Browser automation has long struggled with a critical tradeoff. Companies could choose reliable but rigid deterministic systems, or they could opt for flexible AI-driven tools that frequently break. Tom Diacono, the founding engineer at Asteroid, discovered a third path that combines both approaches into a single platform capable of processing tasks at speeds previously thought impossible.
The 26-year-old engineer built his technical foundation without a university degree, starting as an intern at 19 and climbing to lead engineer over six and a half years at Wireless Logic. His track record includes creating systems that processed thousands of messages per second for SIM card networks and building infrastructure now used by thousands of developers globally. His contributions to the OpenTelemetry project have garnered over 50,000 downloads, establishing him as a significant voice in the field of distributed systems architecture.
Building What Others Said Couldn't Exist
Asteroid's platform solves a problem that has plagued enterprise operations for decades. Corporate insurance brokers, for instance, spend approximately 45 minutes per form manually gathering quotes from multiple carriers. A single client inquiry could consume hours of skilled labor, creating bottlenecks that cost businesses substantial resources. Traditional automation tools faltered when websites changed their layouts or introduced new fields, requiring constant manual intervention.
Diacono engineered a system that automatically generates Playwright code, eliminating the need for programming skills while maintaining execution speed. The platform runs multiple automations simultaneously, cutting what once took hours down to minutes. "We can have 10 agents do 10 forms in parallel, in a fraction of the time and cost," he explains.
From Telecommunications to Browser Intelligence
His previous role at Wireless Logic demanded solutions that could handle millions of devices across disparate networks. Diacono designed a SIM provisioning system capable of activating thousands of cards with a single command, regardless of carrier or geographic location. When Wireless Logic acquired its competitors, its architecture enabled seamless integration without requiring the rebuilding of existing systems.
The eSIM project he spearheaded demonstrated his ability to anticipate market needs. His system detected the country in which a device was operating and automatically downloaded local profiles, saving clients from excessive roaming charges. The real-time usage processing platform he constructed enabled instantaneous monitoring, alerting, and capping for millions of active connections. These weren't incremental improvements—they fundamentally changed how the telecommunications company operated.
Speaking to the Future of Agent-Based Work
His technical authority extends to the conference circuit. Scheduled presentations at the Microservices meetup and OxfordAIx position him as both practitioner and educator. His lightning talk on applying software engineering patterns to agent companies addresses a gap in current technical literature, where most discussions focus on model training rather than production deployment architecture.
"Skilled workers become more efficient," Diacono states when describing Asteroid's impact. His pragmatic approach strips away the hype surrounding artificial intelligence, focusing on measurable outcomes. The platform doesn't replace human judgment—it amplifies it by handling repetitive data entry tasks that drain productivity and morale.
Diacono's work arrives at a moment when enterprises face mounting pressure to automate without sacrificing accuracy. His engineering choices—prioritizing speed without compromising reliability, building systems that adapt rather than break—represent a departure from the binary thinking that has constrained the automation sector. The results speak through deployment: customers report time savings that translate directly to cost reduction and faster client response times.
His trajectory from self-taught intern to founding engineer at a Y Combinator-backed startup demonstrates technical acumen that transcends formal credentials. Each system he constructs addresses real operational pain points with an architecture that scales. The 50,000 developers using his OpenTelemetry extension validate his technical judgment. Asteroid's clients, who now complete in minutes what previously required hours, confirm his commercial instincts.
