Agentic AI
Agentic AI is AI that acts toward a goal, planning and taking action across a workflow, rather than only generating content in response to a prompt.
The distinction is assistance versus execution. Generative AI answers a question or drafts an output that a person then uses; agentic AI sets out to reach an outcome, breaking it into steps, calling tools and data, acting, and adjusting based on results.
The two are related, since agentic systems usually use generative models underneath, but agentic AI adds planning, tool use, memory, and the ability to change the state of other systems. In business software this is the shift from AI that helps you write to AI that does the work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Generative AI creates content in response to a prompt. Agentic AI uses that ability to pursue a goal, planning steps and taking action across a workflow rather than stopping at an output.