AI Agent
An AI that can take actions, make decisions, and complete multi-step tasks on its own — not just answer questions.
A standard AI responds to one prompt at a time and stops. An AI agent goes further — it can plan a sequence of steps, use tools (like browsing the web, writing code, or sending emails), check its own results, and keep going until a goal is achieved. You give it an objective, not just a question. Agents are what make AI genuinely useful for complex real-world tasks rather than just Q&A.
Asking a regular AI a question is like asking a consultant for advice in a meeting — they give you an answer and the ball is back in your court. An AI agent is more like hiring that consultant full-time — they go away, do the research, draft the document, send the emails, and come back with the finished work.
"Agentic" doesn't mean the AI is autonomous or conscious. It just means it's been given tools and a loop — it can act, observe the result, and act again. A human usually still defines the goal and reviews the output.