For the past few years, getting better results from AI meant learning to write better prompts. That is changing fast, as AI systems begin to reason, make decisions, and act across entire workflows on their own.

At TechSparks 2026, YourStory’s flagship event, Dr Vignesh Subrahmaniam, Principal AI Scientist at Intuit, spoke with Adith Charlie, Managing Editor of YourStory and The CapTable, in a fireside chat titled ‘Beyond the prompt: Building AI that thinks, acts, learns’. Drawing on Subrahmaniam's experience of turning AI research into scalable systems, the two explored what builders need to rethink as intelligence becomes increasingly agentic.

The session opened with a question for Subrahmaniam about what a typical day looks like for him. He was also asked to simplify the concepts of fintech and AI for the audience. He responded with a chess analogy, posing a question: if an algorithm were never taught the rules of chess but was shown a million completed games and their winners, could it deduce both the rules and the strategies most likely to lead to victory? His team at Intuit applies a similar approach to supporting small businesses, as the company serves both consumers and accountants. 

“How do we learn the game of business by looking at data, by looking at actual actions and outcomes that businesses are taking,” he said. The goal is to understand what helps a business win customers, grow quickly, and improve its cash flow.

The conversation then turned to the shift builders face, from years of learning to write smarter prompts to designing agents that are handed a goal and decide the steps themselves.

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