Agentic AI
Definition
AI systems that pursue goals autonomously — perceiving, planning, and using tools to act — rather than responding to one instruction at a time.In-Depth Explanation
"Agentic" describes AI that is given an outcome, not a script, and figures out the steps to reach it. Such systems perceive their environment, reason about a goal, plan, use tools, and adapt based on feedback, often over many steps. It contrasts with a single prompt-response interaction and spans single autonomous agents up to multi-agent systems. The degree of autonomy varies, and higher autonomy raises safety and oversight considerations.
Real-World Example
Given "book me a trip to Tokyo," an agentic AI searches flights, compares hotels, and assembles an itinerary on its own.