Definition
An AI system able to chain several actions autonomously to accomplish a goal: search, analyze, write, use tools.
Unlike a chatbot that answers a question, an AI agent breaks a goal down into steps and executes them: querying a document base, cross-checking sources, preparing a deliverable, triggering an action in a third-party tool. It loops until it reaches the requested result.
In a company the challenge is not technical prowess but control: which actions can the agent perform on its own, and which require human validation? Good practice is to let the agent act autonomously on reversible, internal actions (search, drafts) and to require a human in the loop for any outgoing or irreversible action.
An agent follows up on quotes left unanswered: it spots those older than seven days in your CRM, drafts a message suited to each client and submits it to you. You approve in one click, it sends the message and logs the follow-up in the file.
As soon as a task is repetitive, follows clear rules and goes through several tools: follow-ups, email sorting, data entry, preparing files. For a one-off question, a simple assistant is enough.
Can an AI agent act without any control?
No, if it is well designed. You define what it is allowed to do, and any sensitive action (sending, paying, deleting) waits for human validation. Every action is logged.
All AI models, deployed on your infrastructure, with your documents connected.