Short answer
An AI agent is an artificial intelligence program that doesn’t just answer questions but takes actions itself to reach a goal: it reads an e-mail, finds information in a system, fills in data and sends a reply. It works within the limits you set and, when needed, asks a person for approval.
How an agent differs from ordinary AI
An ordinary AI tool such as ChatGPT answers what you ask. An AI agent receives a task and works out the steps to complete it itself, using the tools it has access to. For example:
- It receives an e-mail with an invoice.
- It reads the invoice data.
- It checks whether the supplier and the order exist in the system.
- It enters the invoice into accounting — or hands it to a person if something doesn’t match.
It’s similar to a new employee who has been given clear instructions and access to the programs they need.
Where AI agents help a business
- Documents: reading and entering invoices, receipts and applications.
- Customer requests: sorting by topic, drafting a reply, creating a task in the CRM.
- Internal information: answering employees’ questions from company documents.
- Reports: collecting data from several systems and summarising it for the manager.
What to keep in mind
An agent should only get the permissions needed for the specific job, and important actions — payments, contracts, messages sent to customers — should require human approval. Read more in how AI agents work.