AutoHive, a no-code AI automation platform, has been launched by J.D. Trask, the Wellington-based founder of Raygun. Trask describes the new venture as one with the potential to be “a bigger revolution than the internet.”
Moving from Performance Monitoring to AI
Raygun, Trask’s previous venture is known for monitoring software performance for global brands such as HBO and Domino’s. The Wellington-based company has operated with a streamlined team and 93% of its revenue came from overseas. The breakthrough moment came after the generative AI boom in 2023.
“I cannot put down thinking about this, this is going to be a bigger revolution than the internet,” he said. A focused exploration into AI followed, resulting in the development of AutoHive.
Closing the Technical Gap in AI Adoption
Trask’s push to launch AutoHive was driven by a key insight into the limitations of current AI usability. “The key learning I sort of had was like, these AI agents are amazing… But they’re also really hard to build,” he said.
“If this technology is supposed to be running in every single business out there and you need a crack squad of software engineers to get any value out of it today, that’s not gonna work.”
AutoHive addresses this problem with a no-code platform that encourages users—from florists to accountants—to build and deploy AI agents for tasks like invoicing, customer service, or daily reporting.
Trask compares today’s chatbots to the early days of email, arguing the real future lies in agentic systems that can interact with tools like Xero or HubSpot to manage end-to-end workflows.
Simplifying Costs for Business Use
AutoHive provides a $10 credit trial for new users and a simple pricing structure—$80 per month per company, regardless of size. Additional usage fees apply only as businesses scale. Aligning costs with value is key for Trask.
“It’s in our interest and your interests that we’re creating agents that are delivering real business value,” he said. AutoHive is built for small and mid-sized businesses looking to implement AI without institutional support.
Filling Operational Gaps Without Cutting Jobs
Trask says AutoHive is intended to address tasks that weren’t being done, not eliminate existing jobs. “It’s not really about us taking away a job, we never had a person who was sitting there writing changelog updates,” he said. “But we could now make changelog updates that we maybe didn’t have the capacity to before.”