Web Summit 2026 opens with Manus. Tao Zhang: “AI is already good at doing things. We hire people who can work with it”

In the first interview on Web Summit 2026's Centre Stage, Manus co-founder and CPO Tao Zhang explained how his agents now get their own phone number, email and wallet, and why the company no longer hires people only for being good at doing things. Lisbon – Live from Web Summit 2026. Web Summit 2026 opened on Monday evening in Lisbon, and the first interview on its Centre Stage went to Manus, the startup that made general-purpose AI agents a category.