Open Source Startup Podcast E191: Super Fast Infra for Agents to Use the Internet
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Feb 4, 2026 Catherine Jue, Co-founder and CEO of Kernel, builds low-latency cloud browsers and control-plane tools for agentic workflows. She discusses why super-fast browser infrastructure matters, how Kernel’s unikernel images and APIs enable real-time web automation, and practical use cases like RPA, sales intelligence, and instant voice agents. The conversation also covers open-source design choices and scaling for developers and businesses.
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Cash App QA Sparked Kernel
- Catherine Jue recounts seeing a Cash App QA team use Claude to verify partner websites and realized LLMs could understand human interfaces at scale.
- That moment motivated her and co-founder Raph to build browser infrastructure to productionize agent-driven web automations.
Unikernels Shrink Browser Cold Starts
- Kernel built Chromium on a unikernel to solve browser cold-start and reliability issues that plague Dockerized Chrome.
- The unikernel approach reduced spin-up latency from tens of seconds to under 20 milliseconds and enabled snapshot/restore workflows.
Provide Managed Browser Access
- Give agents easy, managed access to browsers via APIs or MCP servers instead of forcing teams to home-roll Docker browsers.
- Doing so removes friction and unlocks more agent-driven automation across companies and industries.