ACCESS Notion CEO Ivan Zhao on if AI is really killing software companies
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Feb 19, 2026 
Ivan Zhao, CEO of Notion, leads the company through an AI- and agent-first product shift. He discusses Notion’s custom agents, how they automate triage and status updates, and why work tools must be agent-friendly. He also covers hiring young talent, shifting from seat-based pricing to usage/outcome models, and building agent-ready integrations like email and calendar.
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Democratizing Agents For Teams
- Notion's custom agents launch aims to democratize AI agents for business-grade, multiplayer workflows.
- Ivan says this turns individual tinkering into a factory of always-on agents for companies.
Delegate Busy Work To Agents
- Delegate repetitive knowledge-work like answering FAQs, triaging tickets, and status updates to agents.
- Free humans to focus on higher-level systems thinking and strategy instead.
Add Guardrails Before Agent Rollout
- Add explicit guardrails, permissions, and transparency when deploying agents in business settings.
- Lock down access and define workflows to prevent unsafe or unauthorized modifications.