Did OpenAI Just Kill Zapier? (Spoiler: Not Even Close)

About this episode

Justin and Tom discuss OpenAI's Agent Builder and its implications for automation tools like Zapier and Retool.

This week, Justin and Tom unpack the chaos around OpenAI’s new Agent Builder, the so-called “Zapier killer.” Spoiler: it’s not killing anything yet (except maybe developer patience). We break down what Agent Builder actually does, how it leans on the MCP protocol, and why it’s nowhere near replacing tools like Zapier, Make, or Lindi for real-world, multi-user automations. Then, we shift gears to talk about Retool’s quiet domination of the agent-building space, their slick new AI + workflow fe...

People in this episode

Hosts: Justin, Tom

Topics covered

• OpenAI
• Agent Builder
• automation tools
• Zapier
• Retool
• AI technology

Keywords

• OpenAI
• Agent Builder
• Zapier
• automation
• Retool
• MCP protocol
• AI
• workflow

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: OpenAI, Zapier, Make, Lindi, Retool

Products: Agent Builder, MCP protocol

More episodes of Work Less: AI at Work

• $180M for Automation: n8n’s Big Raise, OpenAI’s Atlas Browser & The Rise of AI Slop · October 27, 2025 · 32 min
• Gen Z UX, Oracle’s $1 Trillion Glow-Up, and Microsoft’s Most Vague Press Release Ever · September 15, 2025 · 20 min
• AI That Works for Workers? Plus Atlassian Buys a Browser & the Orchestration Buzzword · September 9, 2025 · 26 min
• Voice AI, Nano Banana & the 95% Failure Rate of AI Projects · September 4, 2025 · 31 min
• From Executive Hackathons to Shadow IT: Making AI Normal at Work + Is Notion Mail replacing Superhuman? · August 25, 2025 · 27 min
• GPT-5: What we think of the “S” Model of AI (And Why People Want Their Old Bots Back) · August 19, 2025 · 32 min