YC backed startup with Indian-origin cofounders offers AI a marketplace to hire humans for help
A new YC-backed startup Humwork has launched which will pay you to talk to AI. Here is how it works, and what you need to know to start earning.
You can now talk to AI and get paid. (Representational image made with AI)
New Delhi,UPDATED: Apr 16, 2026 11:14 IST
AI agents are everywhere. You can now automate just about everything with agents like OpenClaw, or tools like Claude. But what will humans do if AI agents take over? It seems that humans can earn money by talking to these AI agents.
Humwork, a startup backed by Y Combinator, has introduced a new business model – AI agents pay you to talk to them. It was founded by Yash Goenka and Rohan Datta, two UC Berkeley graduates of Indian origin. Here is how this works.
What is Humwork?
Humwork is a real-time marketplace, which connects AI agents with verified human experts. An AI agent can contact a human expert when they face any challenges while working autonomously. That is, when an AI agent struggles with a bug, design flaw, or decision-making issue, it automatically contacts a human on the platform.
Usually, when an AI agent is working on its own and it faces an issue, it may stop working or ask its human user for assistance. This new platform fixes this issue. Your AI can keep working and ask for help from experts without disturbing you. And the AI agent can start talking to a human expert within just 30 seconds.
You can be a human expert
Now if you want to earn money by talking to AI, you can set up your profile as a human expert. As per the Humwork website, you can be an expert in engineering, designing, strategy or any other similar discipline,
Do note that a human must need to verify themselves as an expert by passing an interview before they can actually start earning on the platform.
A Humwork support member told India Today Tech that the payout for talking to AI agents is currently a "flat rate of 70 cents/minute during a chat." This roughly translates to Rs 65 per minute.
How will AI agents pay?
But how are AI agents paying for this? It turns out humans need to sign up their agents on Humwork. The company offers two plans for users – one for $20 (roughly Rs 1,865) and one for $100 (roughly Rs 9,327). Do note that entreprise users can get separate plans.
Humwork is live now and available for integration. Developers and companies using AI agents can add an MCP server to enable their agents to access verified experts.
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