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MTS · Friday · 14 min

Why AI Agents Need Local Computers | Sarah Sachs

Sarah Sachs, Head of AI at Notion, discusses Notion's architecture strategy for AI agents using Vercel Workers and Sandboxes. She explains why agent processing is shifting to CPU execution, local file systems, and deterministic workflows over token-exhaustive LLM loops, and how Notion acts as an intelligent context layer across frontier models. MTS is a live news and interview show covering technology, business, politics, and culture as it happens. Follow MTS: X | ⁠https://twitter.com/MTSlive⁠ YouTube | ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@mtsituation⁠ Spotify | ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/4HUNNmV1pjV7CW6Lphm1rM⁠ Apple | ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mts/id1891088763⁠ Substack | ⁠https://mtslive.substack.com/⁠ Interested in sponsoring the show? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sponsors@mts.now⁠⁠ -- Brought to you by: Mongo DB - Anyone can prototype an agent. Learn how to get them into production on September 30th in New York - register at https://www.mongodb.com/events/mongodb-local/nyc Lovable - Turn ideas into software people love with Lovable. Start today at https://lovable.dev/ Larridin - Finally prove what your AI investment is worth. Head to https://larridin.com/ today to start measuring your AI’s bottom line. Neon (by Databricks) - Get up to $100K in credits for your startup at ⁠https://neon.com/mts⁠ ElevenLabs - AI that communicates at human level across every channel and modality. https://elevenlabs.io/mts Arena - Measuring AI performance in the real world. ⁠https://arena.ai/⁠ Kong - The AI connectivity platform. Connect APIs, LLMs, agents, and systems with serious security and governance. https://konghq.com Today’s stream is sponsored by VCX, the public ticker for private tech. Head over to http://getvcx.com to learn more Blitzy - Autonomous software development for enterprise codebases. Ship 5x faster. https://blitzy.com AdQuick - Make your brand a billboard. Out-of-home advertising as easy to scale as digital. https://adquick.com Chargebee - Billing and monetization infrastructure for the AI era. https://www.chargebee.com/ -- Timestamps: (00:00) Introduction (00:39) Preview Of Vercel Talk (01:22) Concrete CPU Execution Examples (02:46) Workflow Examples And Use Cases (04:32) Evolution Of Agentic Systems (06:05) Shared Context In Enterprise (08:27) Model Lock-In And Context Ownership (11:36) How Notion Evaluates Models -- Note: This podcast is not investment, legal, or tax advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies and securities discussed; do your own research before acting on anything you hear.

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show notes

Sarah Sachs, Head of AI at Notion, discusses Notion's architecture strategy for AI agents using Vercel Workers and Sandboxes. She explains why agent processing is shifting to CPU execution, local file systems, and deterministic workflows over token-exhaustive LLM loops, and how Notion acts as an intelligent context layer across frontier models.



MTS is a live news and interview show covering technology, business, politics, and culture as it happens.


Follow MTS: 

X | ⁠https://twitter.com/MTSlive⁠

YouTube | ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@mtsituation⁠

Spotify | ⁠https://open.spotify.com/show/4HUNNmV1pjV7CW6Lphm1rM⁠ 

Apple | ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mts/id1891088763⁠ 

Substack | ⁠https://mtslive.substack.com/⁠

Interested in sponsoring the show? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠sponsors@mts.now⁠⁠

--

Brought to you by:

Mongo DB - Anyone can prototype an agent. Learn how to get them into production on September 30th in New York - register at https://www.mongodb.com/events/mongodb-local/nyc

Lovable - Turn ideas into software people love with Lovable. Start today at https://lovable.dev/

Larridin - Finally prove what your AI investment is worth. Head to https://larridin.com/ today to start measuring your AI’s bottom line.

Neon (by Databricks) - Get up to $100K in credits for your startup at ⁠https://neon.com/mts⁠

ElevenLabs -  AI that communicates at human level across every channel and modality. https://elevenlabs.io/mts

Arena - Measuring AI performance in the real world. ⁠https://arena.ai/⁠

Kong - The AI connectivity platform. Connect APIs, LLMs, agents, and systems with serious security and governance. https://konghq.com

Today’s stream is sponsored by VCX, the public ticker for private tech. Head over to http://getvcx.com  to learn more

Blitzy - Autonomous software development for enterprise codebases. Ship 5x faster. https://blitzy.com

AdQuick - Make your brand a billboard. Out-of-home advertising as easy to scale as digital. https://adquick.com

Chargebee - Billing and monetization infrastructure for the AI era. https://www.chargebee.com/

--

Timestamps:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:39) Preview Of Vercel Talk

(01:22) Concrete CPU Execution Examples

(02:46) Workflow Examples And Use Cases

(04:32) Evolution Of Agentic Systems

(06:05) Shared Context In Enterprise

(08:27) Model Lock-In And Context Ownership

(11:36) How Notion Evaluates Models

--

Note: This podcast is not investment, legal, or tax advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. Hosts and guests may hold positions in the companies and securities discussed; do your own research before acting on anything you hear.


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