Europe 2026
Give Your Agent a Computer — Nico Albanese, Vercel
Overview
This talk introduces a framework for building AI agents that can interact with a computer, leveraging the AI SDK. The core thesis is that effective agents require an agent runtime, tools for interaction, and a computational environment like a sandbox file system for state persistence and code execution. The presentation demonstrates how to integrate these components to create more capable and autonomous AI agents.
Who should watch
- AI engineers looking to build agents with more advanced capabilities.
- Developers interested in integrating AI agents into applications.
- Product Managers exploring the potential of agent-based systems.
- Builders seeking to understand agent runtimes, tool usage, and sandboxing.
Key takeaways
- The AI SDK provides primitives for building agents, including tool loops and structured outputs, with an emphasis on a lightweight JavaScript approach.
- Agents can be enhanced with tools, such as web search, which allows them to fetch external information and augment their context.
- Persistent sandboxes, like Vercel Sandbox, offer a dedicated computational environment for agents to execute code and persist state across sessions.
- Agents can be given a "computer" by integrating with sandboxes, enabling them to run bash commands and manage files.
- Persistent memory can be implemented by storing information in files within the sandbox and injecting it into the agent's instructions.
- Agents can learn and adapt by generating and executing code, such as Python scripts, and storing these reusable components in their memory.
- The framework supports complex agent systems with sub-agents and durable workflows, allowing for long-running, resilient tasks.
- End-to-end type safety is a core principle, ensuring consistency between agent definitions, tool usage, and UI components.
Notable quotes
*The core building blocks for building agents in 2026 are an agent runtime, tools, and a computer or some kind of sandbox file system.*
Unofficial community note. Prefer the recording for nuance.