Definition
AI agent
An AI system that pursues a goal by deciding which actions or tools to use, step by step, rather than producing a single answer.
Where a chatbot answers, an agent acts: it plans, calls tools such as search, databases or APIs, looks at the results and decides what to do next until the goal is met or it needs help.
That autonomy is useful when the path to the goal can't be scripted in advance, and risky when actions have consequences. Production agents need explicit state, tool permissions, approval gates for sensitive steps, and tracing so every decision can be reviewed.
If the steps are known in advance, a workflow with a few LLM steps is often cheaper and more reliable than an agent.
Related services
Related terms