Trace raises $3M to solve the AI agent adoption problem in enterprise

Trace, a workflow orchestration startup launched as part of Y Combinator’s 2025 summer cohort, has raised $3 million in seed funding to address the slow adoption of AI agents in the enterprise, which the company attributes to a lack of context.

Trace's system builds a knowledge graph from a company's existing tools (like email and Slack) to map complex corporate environments. Users can then input high-level tasks, and Trace generates a step-by-step workflow, delegating sub-tasks to AI agents or human workers, ensuring agents are prompted with the specific data they need.

CEO Tim Cherkasov compares Trace to building the "manager" for brilliant AI "interns" built by labs like OpenAI. The founders believe their focus on "context engineering," rather than just prompt engineering, will position Trace as the essential infrastructure for AI-first companies, despite competition from Anthropic and existing productivity service providers launching their own agents.

(Source：TechCrunch)