Agentic AI
AI that plans and carries out several steps on its own instead of answering one question at a time.
- Open the folder of letters
- Read each letter and note its date
- Write the dates into a table
- Email the table to the client stop: needs your approval
A chatbot answers one message. An agent keeps going: it decides the next step, does it, looks at the result, and repeats. The important design question is which steps it may take alone and which must wait for you.
The fuller definition
Agentic AI describes systems that plan and carry out multi-step tasks, choosing their own actions and using tools with limited human prompting along the way. The word is used loosely in marketing.
Go deeper
- ObserveRead the task, the current state, and the last result.
- DecidePropose the next action: a search, a file read, a calculation.
- ActThe harness runs the action, if permitted.
- CheckStop condition met? If not, loop again.
The model proposes; the surrounding software executes and records. Where the loop may act, and when it must stop and ask, are decisions made outside the model.
A concrete example
A system asked to prepare a document inventory opens each file, records metadata, and flags unreadable pages without being told each step.
The distinction that matters
Agentic describes a degree of autonomy, not a guarantee of judgment. How much the system may do should be set by permissions and review points, not by its name.
Related terms
AI agent
An AI system that takes steps to do a task. It may choose tools, search, or work with files. Its access should have clear limits.
Agents & automationAgent loop
The cycle an agent repeats: look, decide, act, check, until the task is done or it must stop.
Agents & automationApproval gate
A point in an automated task where it must stop and wait for a person to say yes.
Where it is taught
Prompts, skills, workflows, and agentsSource and further reading
Anthropic · Building effective agentsThe definition and example are written for this library. The link gives background, official documentation or legal authority as labelled. Legal scope depends on the jurisdiction and current text; product features depend on release and settings.