---
title: "AI Agent"
description: "An AI agent is a software system that uses a language model to understand a task, take actions across your tools, and complete work autonomously, escalating to a human only when needed."
canonical: "https://www.whatsnext-ai.com/glossary/ai-agent"
---

# AI Agent

An AI agent is a software system that uses a language model to understand a task, take actions across your tools, and complete work autonomously, escalating to a human only when needed.

## Definition

A good agent is grounded in your data, integrated with your systems, and bounded by guardrails so it acts safely. It reads context, decides what to do, performs the action, and logs the result. Built well, it handles the repetitive 70–80% of a workflow end to end.

## Related

- [AI Agents](https://www.whatsnext-ai.com/ai-agents)
- [Custom AI Development](https://www.whatsnext-ai.com/custom-ai-development)

## Source

Anthropic — Building Effective Agents (2024) (https://www.anthropic.com/research/building-effective-agents)