# AI Agent

> An AI agent is a piece of software that can take actions to complete a task — looking up data, calling tools, and working through multiple steps — rather than only answering a question.

_Source: https://plenaura.com/glossary/ai-agent · Last updated: 2026-06-03 · Plenaura_

## Key points

- A chatbot replies with text; an agent actually does the work — checks a record, updates a system, sends the follow-up.
- It decides which step comes next based on what it finds, so it can handle tasks that aren't perfectly scripted.
- Reliable agents are scoped to a clear job with defined tools and success criteria, and escalate to a human when unsure.
- "AI agent" is the single worker; Agentic AI is the broader design approach of goal-driven, action-taking software.

## FAQ

### What's the difference between an AI agent and Agentic AI?

An AI agent is a specific piece of software that takes actions to finish a task. Agentic AI is the broader concept — the approach of building software that reasons, plans, and acts toward a goal. An agent is one instance of that idea in practice.

### Can an AI agent be trusted to act without oversight?

For low-risk, well-defined tasks, yes. For anything involving money, compliance, or customer commitments, the reliable pattern is a semi-autonomous agent that handles the routine work and hands off to a human for the calls that need judgment.