What is an AI agent? A plain-English definition
2026-11-10
Definition
An AI agent is software that is given a goal, works out the steps to reach it and uses tools such as email, a spreadsheet or your CRM to carry those steps out, rather than only answering a question.
Why it matters
A chatbot replies to what you type. Anthropic's Building effective agents draws a similar line between fixed workflows and agents. An agent acts on the result. It runs on a large language model for the reasoning, then connects to your systems so it can read, write and send. An agent that can update records can also update them wrongly, so useful business agents work inside tight limits with a person checking sensitive steps. See human in the loop.
An agent is also different from plain workflow automation. A workflow follows fixed steps you drew in advance. An agent chooses its steps at run time, which suits messy inputs and costs more to supervise. The business view of agents covers where they pay off.
A hypothetical example
Picture a bookkeeping firm whose inbox fills with client receipts. An agent reads each email, pulls out the supplier and amount, matches it to the right client file and drafts a reply asking for anything missing. A staff member reviews the drafts before they go out.
If you want to see where an agent would fit in your business, look at our AI agents service.