Why AI Agents Need a New Kind of Browser

Traditional headless browsers weren’t built for AI agents, often breaking when web elements shift even slightly. Paul Klein IV, founder of Browserbase and its open-source tool Stagehand, is tackling this by creating a browser infrastructure designed specifically for AI control. On The New Stack Agents podcast, Klein explained that Stagehand enables AI agents to interpret vague, natural-language instructions and still function reliably—even when web pages change. This flexibility contrasts with brittle legacy tools built for deterministic testing. Instead of writing 100 scripts for 100 websites, one AI-powered script can now handle thousands.