Which Model Should You Pick for an AI Agent?
If one model becomes too expensive, you can actually slide over to the next model easily.
If you're unsure about which lab to go with, Google's doing a pretty good job right now, I'd say that's a safe starting point.
Where the model setting lives
The next thing that we're going to do is we're going to hover again over the word agent. If you're following along on my screen, it is on the right side of my screen. I'm clicking into agents below agent. You'll see model and there's a G, which is the Gumloop logo and auto. If you select auto in the dropdown menu, you'll see that there are all of the language, the large language lab models that are available that you can select from.
Hear this at 21:31 in the recording.
A default model, and why
If you have a preferred model that you use, perhaps it's Gemini from Google, Claude from Anthropic, or ChatGPT from OpenAI, you can select it in the section here. I typically build my new agents in Moonshot using the Kimi K3 model. It's one of the Chinese large language labs, Kimi K3 is one of my favorite in terms of setting up agents. The reason why I like the Kimi K3 model. It tends to give me great results and it doesn't use a lot of tokens inside of Gumloop. But I find that I get more bang for the buck when it comes to using the Kimi K3 model.
Hear this at 22:13 in the recording.
If you are unsure which lab to pick
I would suggest if you're unsure safe space to start is one of the Google models.
Hear this at 23:21 in the recording.
Where this comes from
Every sentence above is Jacqueline V. Twillie's own, spoken live with Women Applying AI on October 7, 2026. The headings, questions, timestamps and links are the only additions. Filler words are cut, and a passage that skips a few seconds starts at the timestamp shown.
Build Your First AI Agent in One Hour: the full build, with the clips, the prompts and the transcript. This article's clip is Why the AI agent is not tied to one model.
Related reading: What Is Model Switching for an AI Agent?, What Are Gumloop Credits?, Why Build an AI Agent on Gumloop Instead of Only in ChatGPT or Claude?.
Frequently asked questions
Do you work for Gumloop?
I don't work for Gumloop. I found this tool over the summer through Lenny's podcast, and I started using it and have since made myself an ambassador for them. I've created a relationship with Gumloop.
What does the Edit Own Instructions toggle do?
What that does is it allows the agent to learn from your interaction inside of the chat feature. For example, if you click new task that opens another chat inside of this agent, what this blue button does is it allows your agent to learn how you're interacting with it and it automates updates.
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