The crypto industry has struggled to attract real users, and AI may finally provide them. Startups should be prepared, said Jasper De Maere, head of research at Outlier Ventures.

Web3 was not designed for large-scale human users, but built for machines. Its complexity limits mass adoption, but with the emergence of AI agents as autonomous economic actors, a “post-Web” technology stack is taking shape.

Smart contracts, decentralized networks, and verifiable computation will still exist, but they are now being optimized for AI-driven execution, orchestration, and intent-based automation.

The question is not whether this change will happen, but how quickly we will need to adapt.

We have been testing decentralized systems and applications for the past decade. While millions of users are participating in blockchain networks, DeFi protocols, and decentralized applications (dApps), in reality Web3 is still far from being fully utilized.

While approximately 10% of the world’s population reportedly owns crypto assets, only a minority view decentralized applications as a true alternative to Web2 or centralized platforms. This disconnect is not due to a lack of capability in Web3 technology, but rather to its usability challenges and inherent complexity.

In retrospect, Web3 was never really designed for large-scale human users, but rather for machines.

Today, the sleeping giant of Web3 is awakening with the rise of AI agents as autonomous economic actors. The concept of the “post-web” we have coined at Outlier Ventures creates a world where agents perform tasks, manage assets, and transact on our behalf. Every component of the Web3 technology stack will be repurposed. Infrastructure that was once held back by complexity is now becoming well suited for an internet optimized for machines.

AI agents are not just users of Web3, they will unlock the full potential of Web3.

Awakening of the Giants

Web3 was misunderstood. Many expected it to be a more decentralized version of Web2, where users owned their assets, participated in governance, and interacted with permissionless applications.

In reality, Web3 revolutionizes the backend system. However, its technology is still too complex for ordinary users. Smart contracts, self-custody, and cross-chain interactions require time, effort, and technical understanding, which most people do not have.

AI agents will change everything. Unlike humans, AI agents are able to operate in complex environments. They can process massive amounts of information, automate complex workflows, and run seamlessly in decentralized networks. Human users have difficulty getting started with Web3, while AI agents can directly integrate with smart contracts, optimize efficiency, and execute transactions smoothly.

Web3 will finally have users who can fully exploit its capabilities. AI agents will seamlessly interact with decentralized infrastructure, making Web3 function as it was originally envisioned.

The Post-Web Technology Stack: Built for Machines

Web3 has spent the past decade building decentralized infrastructure without AI in mind. With the rise of autonomous AI agents, we must fundamentally change the way we think about the Web3 technology stack.

In the “post-Web” world, where AI agents replace humans as the primary users, the technology stack will undergo two key changes:

● Optimize the existing Web3 technology stack to accommodate AI agents - upgrade decentralized infrastructure to support machine-driven transactions, intent execution, and autonomous coordination.

● Build a new AI agent layer on top of it - a completely new computing and coordination layer for hosting, managing and orchestrating AI agents to perform social and economic activities on behalf of users.

At Outlier Ventures, we’ve taken a deeper look at how the “post-web” will evolve. In short, the post-web technology stack consists of three core layers, each of which is critical to building an internet optimized for machines.

1) Agent layer: AI as a new interface

In the post-Web world, users won’t have to operate wallets, exchanges, or dApps themselves; AI agents will do it for them. These agents act as personalized digital intermediaries, executing transactions, managing assets, and making complex economic decisions.

The agent layer will serve as a bridge between intent and execution. Users simply express their intent, such as investing in an asset, booking a trip, or negotiating a contract, and the agent will do the rest.

Smart wallets will evolve into sovereign identity centers that store personal data, assets, and permissions, enabling agents to act with precision. This means that individuals no longer rely on centralized platforms, but instead delegate tasks to sovereign AI, which gives them full control without having to interact directly with complex systems.

2) Trust layer: Smart contracts and DLT as the backbone

For AI agents to perform real-world tasks, they require a deterministic and verifiable environment that leaves no room for ambiguity in the execution of transactions and agreements.

Today’s AI models rely on probabilistic logic to predict the most likely outcome based on training data. However, economic transactions require certainty and enforceability: a bank transfer, legal contract, or transaction must be executed with absolute certainty.

Smart contracts fill this missing link. They provide tamper-proof, self-executing agreements that enable AI agents to conduct economic activities in a fully transparent and verifiable manner. In addition, decentralized ledgers ensure that agent-driven transactions are secure, permissionless, and minimize the need for trust, preventing manipulation or centralized control of the digital economy.

3) Infrastructure layer: computing, data, and DePIN

AI agents require not only smart contracts, but also resources — computing power, storage, and decentralized data networks — to operate autonomously.

This is where the Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN) comes in.

DePIN provides on-demand computing, storage, and bandwidth, enabling AI agents to run at scale without relying on centralized cloud providers like AWS or Google Cloud. Instead, it distributes resources over a permissionless network, optimizing cost, accessibility, and elasticity.

This layer ensures that AI agents are not just participants in the digital economy, they are entities capable of operating autonomously. From decentralized GPU networks like Akash and Render, to permissionless data exchanges like Ocean Protocol, the infrastructure required for agent autonomy is taking shape.

The Internet is being rewritten

For decades, the internet has been built around human interfaces, platforms, applications, and centralized managers that dictate how we interact with digital services. That era is coming to an end.

The post-Web stack doesn’t just improve Web3, it completely reshapes Web3 as the home of AI agents. With the establishment of the execution layer (agent layer), the verifiability layer (trust layer), and the scaling layer (decentralized infrastructure layer), we are witnessing the rise of an autonomous, machine-driven Internet.

This isn't just the next version of the internet, it's the death of the internet as we know it.

The question is not whether this shift will happen, but whether you are building for it.