Avoca: Building an AI Workforce for the Physical Economy

The Shift from Software to AI Workforce

Avoca founders Apurva Shrivastava and Tyson Chen argue that traditional SaaS in the physical economy (like HVAC or plumbing) has historically been limited to capturing a tiny fraction of wallet share—often less than 1%. By moving beyond simple CRM software and deploying AI agents that actively perform labor—specifically handling inbound sales and customer service calls—Avoca has expanded its addressable market to capture a much larger portion of business expenditure, effectively replacing or augmenting human-heavy operational roles.

Solving the 'Nuisance' Problem

The founders identified that home service businesses lose significant revenue due to missed calls. Their AI agents act as a first line of defense, filtering out "nuisance" calls and allowing human staff to focus on high-value outbound sales and complex dispatching. This shift has not only improved business revenue but also increased employee retention, as human workers are liberated from the repetitive, high-stress nature of constant inbound support.

The Power of Customer Obsession and Forward Deployment

Drawing from their experiences at Retool and Nuro, the founders emphasize the "Forward Deployed Engineering" (FDE) model. This approach requires engineers to work directly with customers to ensure the product solves real-world operational problems. They view customer obsession not as a marketing slogan but as a tactical requirement for finding product-market fit in the "idea maze."

Human-in-the-Loop Context Engineering

Borrowing from autonomous vehicle safety systems (like Nuro’s "Guardian" program), Avoca implements "context engineering" for their AI agents. This involves anticipating when a situation requires human intervention and providing the human operator with sufficient context to resolve the issue seamlessly, rather than throwing them into a chaotic situation without preparation.

The YC Experience and Co-founder Dynamics

Shrivastava and Chen credit their time in Y Combinator with instilling a culture of momentum and maniacal focus. They highlight the importance of having a co-founder during the "idea maze" phase, noting that the psychological support of a partner is critical when navigating the inevitable highs and lows of pivoting and searching for product-market fit.