An AI agent is software that can take a goal, use tools you approve, and work through several steps—not just answer one question in chat.
Chatbot vs agent
- Chatbot / assistant: answers or drafts in a conversation
- Workflow automation: fixed “when X, do Y” steps
- Agent: decides next steps within rules, may call APIs, wait for approval, then continue
Models behind the agent
The agent is not the brand name of one chat product. Under the hood you may use OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Microsoft options, or another provider. We choose (and often compare) models for quality, cost, and data rules—not because one vendor launched a headline.
When an agent is worth it
Use an agent when the path is not fully known in advance: missing data, several systems, and exceptions. If every case follows the same five steps, a workflow is usually enough—and cheaper to run and explain.
What you must define before building
- What the agent may read and change
- Which tools it may call
- When a human must approve
- How you will see what it did (logs)
We implement this under AI Agent Development, and smaller “one capability” jobs under AI Integration.