What Are AI Agents?
An AI Agent is an autonomous program designed to understand a goal, create a plan, and execute a series of tasks using different software tools to achieve it. Many complex business tasks, like market research or coordinating travel logistics, require an employee to manually switch between multiple applications, gather information, and make decisions. This process is time-consuming, repetitive, and often inefficient.
How it helps#
Agents automate these multi-step workflows by acting as a digital team member that can independently use your company's software to complete the objective. This frees up your employees from tedious coordination and allows them to focus on high-value strategic work.
How it works#
An agent is given a high-level goal, such as "Find the top three catering vendors in Austin for our upcoming event and get quotes." The agent first breaks down the goal into a logical sequence of steps: search the web for caterers, visit their websites to check for event services, find contact information, draft an email requesting a quote, and send it to each vendor.
The agent then executes this plan step-by-step, using tools like a web browser and an email application. Crucially, it can observe the results of its actions (e.g., one website has a contact form instead of an email address) and adjust its plan accordingly without human intervention until the final goal is accomplished.
How it is different#
An AI Agent is an independent problem-solver that can plan and act. In contrast, a chatbot is designed for conversation and responds to one prompt at a time; it cannot create and execute a multi-step plan on its own. Similarly, traditional automation software can only follow a rigid, pre-programmed set of instructions and cannot adapt if it encounters an unexpected obstacle.