Pietro Zullo is the co-founder of Manufact and a creator of mcp-use, an open-source framework for connecting AI agents to software through the Model Context Protocol. With co-founder Luigi Pederzani, he builds the infrastructure developers need to create, inspect, secure, deploy, and distribute applications that operate inside AI assistants.
From computer vision to agent infrastructure
Zullo previously worked at autonomous-vehicle company Motional and co-founded Alter Ego, a 3D virtual try-on venture where he served as chief technology officer. While studying at ETH Zurich, he met Pederzani at a Zurich coworking space. Both were frustrated by the difficulty of connecting agents to external tools, even as MCP promised a common interoperability standard.
They created mcp-use to abstract away protocol complexity and make agent integrations accessible beyond established products such as Claude and Cursor. Their early experiments included agents that updated Linear tickets and an MCP-connected IKEA curtain that adjusted room lighting.
Interactive applications inside AI assistants.MCP Apps render sandboxed interfaces inside compatible hosts, turning tool responses into usable charts, forms, diagrams, and other interactive software. Widgets can update model context, trigger additional tools, and redraw incrementally as arguments stream in; Zullo’s team explored these capabilities through a Remotion-based video application.
Privacy-preserving model context. An application can show sensitive information directly to its user while providing the model only an acknowledgment or limited summary. Zullo also addresses OAuth and client-registration challenges that emerge when production agents connect to existing identity systems.
Agent-native discovery. Zullo treats connector directories and publishing requirements as a new software-distribution layer: assistants can locate relevant integrations when users express specific needs. His AI Engineer presentation illustrates the resulting workflow with Granola meeting notes becoming Linear tickets that coding agents can implement.
