Perplexity's new Teammates take a standing job instead of one prompt at a time, like a staffer who doesn't need reminding
By Brett Gavaghan, Founder of Adaptd ·
Perplexity has launched Teammates, agents you hand an ongoing job to, plus a mode that runs its Computer agent entirely on a Mac. Teammates are for Max subscribers on the web.
The short version
- Perplexity Teammates are agents you give an ongoing job, such as a daily inbox check or competitor tracking.
- Teammates are for Max subscribers on the web; fully local Computer on Mac also covers Pro and Enterprise.
- Try one repeat job with a clear review step before you hand over anything that touches customers or money.
Most of us use AI like a vending machine: one prompt in, one answer out, repeat until lunch. Perplexity's latest update is betting you'd rather hand over the whole job.
What are Perplexity Teammates?
Perplexity Teammates are personal AI agents that take on an ongoing job instead of a single task. You give a teammate the job, and it plans the work and follows through until the results are ready for you to review.
Perplexity's examples are the kind of jobs that eat a morning: check email and calendar every morning and send what needs a reply with drafts ready, track competitors for price changes and launches, or draft replies to support emails and check with you before any refund. Teammates can also message coworkers in Slack.
Who can use it, and what else changed?
Teammates are available to Perplexity Max subscribers on the web. The same 6 November update lets Computer, Perplexity's agent for multi-step tasks, run fully on supported Apple-silicon Macs, so it can work across local files and Mac apps like Notes and Mail without sending personal data to the cloud.
Local mode is for paid subscribers from Pro up, on Mac app 26.42.0 or later, and Perplexity recommends 36 GB of unified memory. That's more than a lot of office laptops have, so check before you get excited.
Should your business try Perplexity Teammates?
Your business should try a teammate only if you already pay for Max and have one repeat job with a clear review step.
My take: start with something that only reads and reports, like competitor tracking, and keep a human sign-off on anything that sends money or changes data. Perplexity's own support example checks with you before a refund, and that's the right instinct. If you're on a smaller plan, the local Mac mode is the more interesting part for privacy, provided your Mac has the memory.
A good teammate still needs a manager. The difference is this one won't ask for Fridays off.
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Wondering what this means for your business?
That's exactly what the discovery call is for.