Part 1 of our “Buzzword Breakdown” series
You’ve probably heard the phrase “AI agent” thrown around like confetti lately.
“Agents will change everything.” “Agents are the future of work.” “Agents will replace apps.”
But what does that actually mean?
Can you buy one?
Is a chatbot an agent?
How is this different from any other AI tool?
Let’s break it down 👇
🤖 What is an agent?
An agent is an AI system that can pursue a goal by taking action.
Not just generate a response—but decide, act, and do.
🛠️ What gives it “agency”?
Simple: access to tools.
A model that can search, book, send, query, post, update, or automate has agency.
If it just chats—it’s not an agent. If it acts—it is.
💬 So is a chatbot an agent?
Sometimes.
If it can answer questions and take actions—like booking a call or submitting a form—yes.
Otherwise? It’s just a helpful interface.
🧪 Let’s look at an agentic workflow
Say you want to produce a blog post using agents. Here’s what that might look like:
🕵️ Trend Scout – Finds the week’s hottest tech topics.
📝 Outliner – Suggests the most important angles to cover.
✍️ Copywriter – Drafts the post based on your past work.
🎨 Visuals Team – Suggests and generates images.
📤 Distributor – Adapts and publishes to multiple platforms.
Each one is focused. Together, they form a system.
That’s what agentic design looks like: not just smart tools, but coordinated ones.
Of course, there are lots of ways to build these systems—some lightweight, some fully custom.
We’ve built both. If you’re thinking about where to start, we can help.