Building got cheap. Keeping didn’t.

An agent can build working software fast. Keeping it working for years is the real cost: updates, breakage, security, and a business that keeps changing under it. Agents make that lighter. They don’t make it free. We say this first, because it’s true.

Who fixes it when it breaks?

Keeping software working is the real job, and it never ends. You and your agent do it, with tests, a watchdog and a written runbook, or a practitioner does it for you. If you don’t want that job at all, renting may be the right choice, and that’s fine.

That’s the honest half of AaSS (Agent as Software Solution). Owning software means keeping it, and keeping is work.

Trust the tests, not the agent

Can you trust an agent with your invoices? Trust the tests, not the agent. The agent writes the code and the tests, the tested code does the numbers, and a person approves every change before it goes live. And an agent is good at one more thing: checking the result, and telling you when something looks wrong.

That gives a method rule: let code do the steps; let the agent check the result and handle surprises. The steps stay in plain, tested code, so they’re predictable and cheap to run. The agent works at the edges: checking, deciding, fixing.

The agent does the typing

The agent does the typing, the searching and the checking. People do the judging and the deciding. So the agent still needs a person in charge: someone who knows the business, says clearly what’s wrong, and checks the result.

Three ways to keep it working

• You keep it. You and your agent, with tests, a watchdog and a written runbook.
• A practitioner keeps it. Someone who does this work for you, while everything stays in your name.
• You rent it. If you don’t want the job at all, renting may be the right choice, and that’s fine.

None of these is the wrong answer. The mistake is owning something with nobody in mind to keep it.

Take-home

1. Pick one tool you’d consider owning.
2. Write down who would keep it working: tests, a watchdog, a written runbook, or a practitioner.
3. If the honest answer is nobody, decide that renting is right. That is fine.