AI agents
Also known as Agentic AI
AI programs that pursue goals, use tools, and act with some autonomy.
- There is no universally agreed definition, but common attributes are goal-directed behavior, use of external tools, and the ability to perform multi-step tasks autonomously.,Their control flow is frequently driven by large language models, and agent systems may include memory, planning logic, tool interfaces, and orchestration software.,Deployment accelerated in late 2023 after OpenAI's function-calling API, and especially after Anthropic introduced the Model Context Protocol in late 2024.,By mid-2025 they were used in software development, customer support, government services, and other domains, though The Wall Street Journal reported in November 2025 that few companies deploying them had seen a return on investment.
Why it matters. AI agents are the form AI deployment took after chatbots, and their limits and risks are an active research and enterprise concern.
- Definition
- AI program that pursues goals, uses tools, and takes actions with some autonomy1
- Typical control flow
- Large language models1
- Term popularized
- "Agentic" used with frequency from 2024, popularised in part by Andrew Ng1
- Deployment inflection
- Late 2023, after OpenAI's function-calling API1
- MCP introduced
- Late 2024, by Anthropic1
- Early theoretical work
- Oliver Selfridge's 1958 "Pandemonium" paper1
- Widespread practical agents
- 1990s, after the belief–desire–intention software model1
Common orchestration patterns
Application archetypes
Key dates
The shading behind a date shows how recent it is: full within 3 months, empty after 2 years.
Links
Sources
- AI agent (Wikipedia) (opens en.wikipedia.org) read 2 Oct 2026
- AI agent (Wikidata Q132451509) (opens wikidata.org) read 2 Oct 2026
Last checked against its sources today
Is something on this page wrong or out of date? Tell us
How recent
The shading behind a date shows how long ago it was. For episodes and other items it is full within 3 months and empty after 2 years; for "last checked" it is full within a month and empty after a year. A striped date is known only to the month or year.