Agents & Agentic AI
AI agent
An AI system that can decide what actions to take and use tools to pursue a goal.
Example
An assistant checks a calendar, proposes meeting times, and sends the selected invitation.
Why it matters
People use AI agents to get tasks done. An agent can fill in forms or update spreadsheets.
You'll hear it
“Give the AI agent access to the team calendar so it can book our meetings.”
Can you control it?
Sometimes
Sometimes. You may be able to set the agent's goal, the tools and accounts it can use, spending or time limits, and which actions need your approval. Other products fix these for you.
Common questions
- How does an AI agent work?
- It chooses a step, uses an available tool, checks what happened and then continues or asks for help.
- What makes an AI agent different from a chatbot?
- An agent can carry out actions through tools. A chatbot may only exchange messages with you.
- Can an agent say it finished when the task failed?
- Yes. Its final message should be checked against what actually happened in the connected systems.