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Netlify's New AI Agent Runners: A Game Changer for Developers

In a remarkable move set to transform web development, Netlify has introduced Agent Runners, a state-of-the-art feature designed to significantly enhance productivity for developers. With this innovation, tasks traditionally requiring days can be completed in just minutes, allowing teams to shift their focus from maintaining backlogs to actual development work.

What Are Agent Runners?

Agent Runners essentially bring advanced AI coding agents, such as Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini, directly into the Netlify Dashboard. This integration enables developers to leverage these AI capabilities while working on live applications. What makes Agent Runners particularly compelling is their ability to collaborate seamlessly across company teams, facilitating updates through previews and approvals. Unlike standalone AI tools, which often fall short in live software environments, Agent Runners are built to smoothly operate within the Netlify infrastructure, accessing the necessary codebase, logs, and deployment pipelines. This ensures that the agents have everything they need at their fingertips, allowing for rapid updates that would have previously required days of waiting for developer availability.

Gus Fune, CTO of BÆRSkin Tactical, expressed newfound confidence in the technology, stating, "I've seen plenty of AI coding assistants that can code, but the real challenge has always been validation in an environment that truly matches your live infrastructure. Netlify's new coding agent completely changed that. No surprises when you deploy, no waiting for staging, no mysterious production-only bugs."

Addressing Backlog Challenges

As every developer knows, the post-launch phase is where the real challenges arise. This is typically when production backlogs begin to swell, pulling developers away from building innovative features to resolve routine issues. Netlify’s end-to-end AI development platform aims to tackle these issues head-on, ensuring that the journey from creation to production is as smooth as possible.

Key Stages of Development

1. Creation: Developers can initiate projects with one of twenty partners, such as Bolt and Same, and deploy them instantly with Netlify.
2. Development: As projects expand, developers use tools like Copilot, Windsurf, and Cursor for collaboration via the Netlify MCP Server or Git workflows.
3. Production: Finally, with Agent Runners in play, AI can interact directly with production applications, facilitating simultaneous tasks and secure team collaborations.

The Importance of User Experience (AX)

The crux of improving developer efficiency lies in the Agent Experience (AX) offered by Netlify. By merging human input with AI assistance, teams are empowered to clear tasks, update content, and deploy safely at scale. Matt Biilmann, the co-founder and CEO of Netlify, highlighted the fundamental shift Agent Runners represent, stating, "We're in a moment of time where we can go from developers and stakeholders to one team of collaborators, with humans and agents working together from previews to production. Agent Runners make this shift practical today and are a core pillar of our AX strategy."

Real-World Results

Early adopters of Agent Runners have reported dramatic improvements in operational efficiency. For instance, marketing teams noted that they can implement campaign updates ten times faster than before. A common task such as adding redirects to a site, which typically languished in backlog, was completed in under three minutes from prompt to deployment preview. Developer teams have also reclaimed weeks of maintenance tasks in mere days, amounting to an economic efficiency gain of approximately $18,000 per developer per year.

Availability of Agent Runners

Agent Runners are now accessible for all Netlify users on credit-based plans. Existing customers can initiate an agent directly from the Netlify Dashboard, while new users can sign up for free and start integrating AI within minutes at netlify.com.

This revolutionary feature will undoubtedly change the landscape of web development, streamlining processes, and enabling faster, more efficient production. Each step toward reducing developer workload is a leap toward realizing a more dynamic and responsive web environment, where innovation can thrive unhindered by technical snags.

For those interested in exploring Agent Runners in action, don’t miss the NTL DEPLOY online launch event today at 10 am PT/1 pm ET, streamed live at netlify.com/deploy.

About Netlify

As a leader in the field of AI-native web development, Netlify empowers over 8.5 million developers to build, launch, and scale applications seamlessly on a unified platform. Netlify’s innovative Agent Experience (AX) aims to bridge the gap between AI and human creativity, charting a course for the future of web technology. Global brands like Bolt, Figma, Mattel, and Riot Games trust Netlify to enhance their digital presence. Learn more about this pioneering company at netlify.com.