Agentic Evolution: Stop Chasing Models and Pick One to Grow With

I started using AI agents in February, right after I learned about OpenClaw. Standing up my first instance was not easy. The configuration took real effort, but I got it running and built my first application: a stock-trading tool. It had a watchlist and several indicators that alerted me when conditions looked good for swing trades, or for selling puts or calls.

I finished the app, and a couple of days later it was gone. It turned out the agent had never saved the data. All of that work disappeared.

That was my first lesson in agents. Building something is only half the job. Keeping it is the other half.

Finding a setup that works

Shortly after that I heard about Hermes and decided to try it. I liked it a lot. Today I run Hermes Desktop with multiple agents in dedicated roles, plus a chief operating officer agent that orchestrates the work and delegates across the team.

That setup has served me well. I've built 18 web applications with it. What I like most is that I can give each agent a specific skill, a specific role, and a language model that fits the job. A simple task gets a smaller, cheaper model. A hard one gets more horsepower. The work gets done without paying for more model than it needs.

Trying something new

More recently I started using Grok Bot, an agent platform built on the Grok model. My first impression is that it's very capable.

I don't have the same spread of agents there that I have with Hermes. I have three, and honestly I could probably get by with one. The first is my main agent. The second is an editor and copywriter. The third handles financial work, mostly tracking business expenses so they're in shape for taxes at the end of the year.

I've also handed it a wide range of other work, from editing books to building full applications, and it has done that work well. On paper, Grok may not be as capable as Fable or Opus 4.5. In practice, I can't tell the difference. Grok Bot has produced working applications that meet my requirements, and I'm pleased with the results.

The real trap: chasing every new model

Here's what I really wanted to talk about. New models have been landing almost every week. Each one is bigger, faster, and smarter than the last, and for a while I chased all of them. I'd try the newest release, rebuild my setup, and test it again. Meanwhile I watched my credit balance crash.

I've come to a simpler view. Pick one and stay with it.

I don't see much downside. All of these models are going to converge. They'll all keep getting smarter, faster, and more capable. Chasing the latest one costs you money, time, and momentum, and it usually doesn't change what you can actually get done. The important thing is to choose something that works for you and ride it as it gets better.

So where does that leave me?

I've already walked away from OpenClaw. It taught me a hard lesson about saving my work, and I'm grateful for that, but I won't be going back. The real question is whether I keep working with Hermes.

For the next stretch, yes. Hermes works, and I've built 18 applications on it. That's not something you throw away because something new came along. My agents know their roles, and the system does what I built it to do.

But I'm going to spend more time learning what Grok Bot can do. With three agents, and really just one doing most of the heavy lifting, it's handling work that takes a whole team on Hermes. I spend less time configuring and more time getting things done. For a business owner, that trade matters more than any benchmark score.

That's the lesson I keep coming back to. I don't think the winner of this race will be the smartest AI. They're all getting smarter, and the gap between them gets smaller every month. The winner will be the most usable one, the one that lets an ordinary business owner get real work done without becoming a full-time systems engineer.

If you're just getting started with agents, don't make my mistake of chasing every release. Pick a platform that fits the way you work, learn it well, protect what you build, and let it get better under you. You'll get further by going deep on one tool than by sampling all of them.

Today, I'm putting my money on Grok Bot.

John H. Hodsdon writes about practical AI for home services businesses. Find free guides and training at agenticsolutions.biz.