What It Takes to Run Vending Machines with AI Agents

I describe an experiment in using AI agents to operate six vending machines, focusing on what it takes to connect software agents to real-world business operations. The talk covers the system design, operational lessons, and business metrics, rather than a general guide to running a restaurant.

■ Building the operating system
- Connecting vending-machine controls and a custom point-of-sale system to agent tools
- Scheduling agent tasks, verifying results, and managing shared access and business context
■ Operating in the real world
- Setting goals and tasks, providing business context, and using human support for on-site work
- Observations on product selection, pricing, promotion, and revenue
■ Takeaways and next steps
- A simulation lets viewers experiment with models across six machines

For developers and business operators exploring AI agents, this offers concrete examples of integrating agents with physical equipment and highlights questions to consider before testing their own workflows. Viewers can try the simulation and propose an improvement to test in the vending-machine setup.