A Field Guide · Business / Technology
Build and run a company
by directing AI.
The honest, hype-free field guide to running a real business by directing AI agents — without writing a line of code.
About the book
They told you to learn to code. That advice quietly expired.
The most valuable skill of the next decade isn't building software — it's knowing exactly what to build, and directing a machine to make it. Graham Miranda runs a real company without writing a line of code. Not by hiring developers. By directing AI agents through one repeatable loop.
Agent First is the honest, hype-free field guide to that loop: how to specify work a machine can nail, how to catch what it gets confidently wrong, and where a human must never step aside. It includes a 30-day plan to take you from this page to a running agent-first business.
The question isn't whether you can build anymore. It's whether you know what's worth building — and can make a machine build it before lunch.
The Loop
One repeatable sequence. Learn it once. Apply it everywhere.
1 · Define
Describe the outcome, the constraints, and what "done" looks like before a single instruction is written.
2 · Instruct
Compose the prompt with structure, not adjectives. Specify what to do, what not to do, and what to return.
3 · Route
Pick the right model and tool for the work. Use the smallest agent that can complete the task reliably.
4 · Evaluate
Score the output against the definition. Look at what the model got confidently wrong — that's the input that matters.
5 · Correct
Feed the failure back into the loop as a tighter constraint. Each iteration shrinks the error surface.
6 · Transfer
Promote the working loop into a repeatable workflow your team can run without you in the room.
Inside the book
A selection of part titles from the printed edition.
- 1The LoopDefine, Instruct, Route, Evaluate, Correct, Transfer.
- 2Spec for MachinesHow to write work a machine can nail.
- 3Confidently WrongThe failure mode that ruins every agent.
- 4Where a Human Must StayThe boundaries that don't move.
- 530 Days to a Running BusinessThe plan, in order, with checkpoints.
About the author
Graham Miranda is the operator behind a small, profitable technology company he built without writing a line of code. He writes Agent First as the book he wishes someone had handed him before the loop clicked.
Begin reading
Agent First is available now as a Kindle book on Amazon. Read the first chapters for free.
Available worldwide on Amazon Kindle. Unlimited with Kindle Unlimited.