Agents & Agentic AI
Autonomous agent
An agent designed to operate with limited human intervention for an extended task.
Example
An automated purchasing agent places routine orders without waiting for approval each time.
Why it matters
It can handle routine work without requiring a person to approve every small step.
You'll hear it
“Let it process ordinary requests, but stop when it encounters an exception.”
Can you control it?
Set by the team
The people building or running the AI choose this setup. An everyday user generally needs their help to change how this part works.
Common questions
- Does autonomous mean unlimited authority?
- No. A system can operate independently within strict limits.
- Can it need help after running successfully for a while?
- Yes. An unfamiliar case or unavailable tool can exceed its abilities.
- Can longer operation increase mistakes?
- It can. Small misunderstandings may accumulate when later actions rely on earlier results.