#38: How AI Agents Ran Our Business, While I Went To Burning Man (with Adam Robinson)

OpenAI’s latest “Zapier-killer” headlines were sobering, but Adam Robinson already did the unthinkable: he removed every human from RB2B, a $6M ARR SaaS, for seven days and let AI agents run sales, support, and onboarding, zero intervention.

The outcome?

Revenue growth held (+4%/mo), 96.6% answer accuracy in sales chats, and 89% support resolution with no customer meltdowns.

In this conversation, Adam unpacks:

• The real playbook behind the stunt
• Why he designs his business to fit AI tools (not the other way around)
• How great documentation and Intercom Fin “guidance” drive resolution,
• Where agent workflows replace repetitive tickets,
• Why he’s doubling down on PLG, freemium, and simplicity, even in a high-churn category.

We get into transparency, customer expectations, and why a profitable, small team can now beat over-tooled incumbents.

Also: Yes, the week he “disappeared,” Adam was off-grid at Burning Man.

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Chapters

00:00 Why agents now (and the OpenAI “Zapier-killer” moment)
02:06 From Lehman Brothers to bootstrapped SaaS operator
04:56 The 7-day no-humans experiment: scope & safeguards
09:07 Build-to-AI: shaping product so agents can handle the work
12:50 Lean, profitable, small: the appeal of a high-margin micro-org
17:35 Adapting process to tools (not tools to process)
23:06 Intercom Fin “guidance,” escalations, and transparency
25:44 Churn reality: category dynamics and buyer persona
30:10 Agent workflows: auto-diagnosing email invites (SendGrid)
34:05 Feedback loops: weekly founder calls and customer insights
39:19 Human connection vs. agent efficiency in 2025
42:33 Embracing imperfection—and why “simple wins”

Guest Bio

Adam Robinson is Founder & CEO of Retention.com and RB2B. He bootstrapped Retention.com from $0 to $22M ARR in four years and previously built Robly to an eight-figure exit. A former CDS trader at Lehman Brothers/Barclays, he now builds lean, profitable SaaS—and publishes the receipts.

Who Should Listen

• SaaS founders optimizing for profitability over headcount
• Operators implementing AI in sales, support, and onboarding
• Investors tracking agentic automation and PLG at scale
• Builders designing “self-running” products and processes

Music Credit

“Neptuno” – Phondupe (Album: Onykia)

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