Minimal AI is a representative of the "Vertical Agent" movement within the AI ecosystem. Rather than offering a general framework for building agents, they provide a pre-configured agentic solution tailored to the specific domain of e-commerce customer experience. They operate at the application layer of the agent stack, focusing on the "Action" phase of the agentic loop—where the system actually interacts with APIs to resolve problems rather than simply chatting with the user.
For builders in the ecosystem, Minimal AI illustrates how specialized agents can outperform general models by constraining the problem space to specific business rules and integrations. They are championing the shift from AI as a co-pilot for human agents to AI as an autonomous manager that handles the end-to-end lifecycle of a customer interaction.
Minimal AI is an Amsterdam-founded startup that joined the Y Combinator S25 batch to address the operational burden of e-commerce customer service. Founded in 2024 by Titus Ex and Niek Hogenboom, the company develops autonomous agents that aim to do more than summarize documentation or provide standard chatbot responses. Their core product, the AI Manager, is built to integrate into the existing software stacks of online brands to resolve customer inquiries without human intervention.
In the retail environment, support teams are frequently overwhelmed by high volumes of repetitive queries regarding order tracking, returns, and shipping policies. Traditional chatbots often fail in this context because they lack the ability to understand and apply nuanced business logic. Minimal AI treats the support function as an agentic problem. Their systems learn specific business rules and connect directly to helpdesk and ticketing infrastructure to perform actions, such as checking order statuses via API or processing returns, rather than just providing text-based instructions.
The distinction between a standard chatbot and Minimal’s AI Manager is the ability to execute tasks. Most customer service tools act as a search layer over a knowledge base. If a customer asks about a delayed package, a typical tool might point them to a policy page. Minimal is designed to access underlying order data, identify the specific cause of the delay, and provide a definitive resolution or initiate a corrective action.
By specializing in e-commerce, Minimal AI avoids the limitations of general-purpose AI platforms. Online retailers have specific technical requirements, including deep compatibility with platforms like Shopify or Gorgias and the ability to manage complex variables like discount codes and varying return windows. Minimal’s platform ingests these rules, allowing the agent to operate within the specific constraints of a brand’s policy. This specialization is central to the company's claim of achieving a 90% resolution rate for support tickets.
The company is a recent entrant to the market, established in 2024. Founders Titus Ex and Niek Hogenboom have positioned the firm as a product-led entity within the Y Combinator ecosystem. Their participation in the S25 batch indicates a focus on scaling their solution for international e-commerce markets, moving beyond initial European implementations.
Competitively, Minimal AI operates in a crowded sector that includes legacy helpdesk providers and newer AI-native support tools. However, Minimal's approach is based on being an agent-first platform rather than adding AI features to an existing CRM. This allows for a deeper integration into the ticket lifecycle. Instead of a human using AI to assist in a reply, the AI agent manages the ticket from inception to resolution, only involving human staff when predefined business rules require manual oversight. As e-commerce brands face pressure from rising customer acquisition costs, Minimal AI is betting that the automation of the entire support function is the only way to maintain sustainable margins.
An AI agent that makes it easy for e-commerce companies to automate up to 90% of tickets.
Minimal AI is hiring.