Ben Smith is Co-Founder and CEO of Async, a Y Combinator-backed (S26) startup building specialized AI agents that run small businesses across law firms, healthcare clinics, and real estate companies.

A self-made entrepreneur, Ben dropped out of college at 20 to build software, having previously honed his business instincts selling shoes, trading cards, and collectibles.

Ben believes AI adoption among small businesses is critically underserved and is on a mission to bring capable, specialized AI agents to sectors where complex work has never been economical to automate.

Prior to Async, Ben was involved with Skope (YC S25), another AI agent venture, demonstrating a consistent track record of building at the frontier of applied AI.

Async, part of the YC S26 batch, is targeting a largely untapped labor market by deploying AI agents to automate complex operational work that previously required dedicated human staff.