Last Updated: 20 November 2024
H, the Paris-based startup has launched its first product: an AI agent called Runner H, designed to automate a variety of tasks. The question now is whether Runner H can stand out in a highly competitive AI market.
More than a year after its founding, H has finally rolled out its first product. Known as Runner H, this web-focused, AI-powered agent is the first of many, according to the company, on their mission for "universal automation."
In short, H aims to offer AI agents capable of navigating any graphical interface for all sorts of use cases.
Right now, only the beta version of Runner H 0.1 is available, and it’s accessible to those who sign up. Runner H is all about making automation easy—users can streamline processes, simplify tasks, and take action on the web—all without needing an API.
Runner H was designed to be adaptable. It works with existing solutions and company systems, even offering a virtual team of agents to get the job done. Initially, H is focusing on three core areas: robotic process automation (RPA), quality assurance (QA), and business process outsourcing (BPO).
Runner H runs on two compact models under the hood: an LLM (Language Learning Model) with 2 billion parameters and a VLM (Vision Language Model) with 3 billion parameters.
H claims that Runner H beats Anthropic's "Computer Use" by 29% on the public WebVoyager benchmark—a notable achievement considering this feature was only launched a few weeks ago.
The company also says its models outperform larger ones from rivals like Mistral and Meta, especially for tasks like code generation and function calls.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA): Runner H is designed to revolutionize RPA by taking care of repetitive tasks like reading forms, clicking checkboxes, and transferring files. Unlike traditional RPA solutions, Runner H can adapt even when websites or forms change, helping to prevent failures.
Quality Assurance (QA): Runner H takes the hassle out of website testing. It validates page availability, simulates user interactions, and ensures compatibility across different payment methods—all things that can be a real challenge when websites undergo frequent updates.
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO): Runner H can boost a range of business processes, from billing to data retrieval. The more it’s used, the smarter and more efficient it becomes, making business processes run smoother over time.
H's journey hasn’t been without its share of bumps. The company managed to raise $220 million in initial funding from big-name investors like Accel, Eric Schmidt, Yuri Milner, and Xavier Niel.
However, only a few months in, three of the company’s co-founders left due to internal disagreements. Now, Charles Kantor and Laurent Sifre, the remaining founders, are pushing the company forward as CEO and CTO, respectively.
H's focus is initially on web environments, with the goal of adding value to web testing, automation, and outsourcing. But the ultimate vision is bigger—H wants to achieve "universal automation" with AI agents capable of navigating any graphical interface.
Right now, the beta version—available for those who join the waitlist—comes with an API for accessing pre-built and managed agents running in the cloud.
