Recent advancements in artificial intelligence have transformed systems from mere tools that follow instructions into entities capable of making decisions, planning, and acting independently. One of the most striking elements of this new era is agentic artificial intelligence, which refers to systems that can analyze environmental data, set goals, and act without human intervention. In this Papel Blog article, we explore what agentic AI is, how it works, its various types, its differences from generative AI, and the advantages it offers.
What is agentic AI? How does it work?
Agentic AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that go beyond simply responding to commands—they can set their own goals, make plans, and take action independently. These systems analyze data from their environments, make decisions based on that data, and take action to reach defined goals. Agentic AI is utilized in various fields, including finance, human resources, customer service, manufacturing, logistics, and software development.
The working principles of these systems follow a basic structure:
• Perception: The system collects data from its environment via sensors, APIs, or databases.
• Decision-making: The collected data is analyzed, and the most appropriate action is selected to achieve the system’s goals.
• Action: The system executes the selected action.
• Learning and adaptation: After the action is taken, the system evaluates the results and improves its future decisions using learning mechanisms. Techniques such as reinforcement learning enable the system to learn from experience and improve its performance over time.
Types of agentic AI
Agentic AI systems can autonomously make decisions, carry out goal-oriented tasks, and adapt to environmental changes. There are several types of agentic AI, each designed to perform specific tasks using different strategies and capabilities:
Simple reflex agents
These agents respond directly to environmental stimuli and do not take into account past experiences. For example, a thermostat turns the heater on or off when a set temperature threshold is reached.
Model-based reflex agents
These agents create an internal model of the environment, enabling more informed decision-making. For instance, a robot may recall past obstacles to plan its future movements.
Goal-based agents
These agents can plan and make decisions to achieve specific goals. For example, a navigation system evaluates various routes to determine the shortest one.
Utility-based agents
These agents evaluate the outcomes of various actions and select the option that maximizes utility. For example, a financial advisor agent analyzes various portfolios to suggest the most profitable one.
Learning agents
These agents continually improve their performance over time by learning from their experiences. For instance, a customer service chatbot learns from interactions to provide more accurate responses.
Multi-agent systems
These systems involve multiple agents working together to complete complex tasks. For example, a logistics network might use various agents to determine the most efficient delivery routes.
Embodied agents
These agents interact with the physical world through the body. For example, a robotic vacuum uses physical sensors to detect obstacles and clean accordingly.
Differences between agentic and generative AI
Many industries combine agentic and generative AI to build more comprehensive and practical solutions. While both play vital roles in AI development, they differ in their goals, functioning, and applications.
• Agentic AI is used in financial analysis, investment strategy, supply chain and logistics management, customer service automation, and intelligent manufacturing systems.
• Generative AI is widely applied in content creation, visual arts and design, music and sound generation, educational materials, and simulations.
Key differences:
• Agentic AI operates autonomously, making decisions and taking actions based on data analysis. It plans strategically to achieve goals and continuously improves via learning.
• Generative AI learns from existing data to produce new, original content. It excels in creative fields such as writing, art, and music and generates meaningful responses in natural language.
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Advantages of agentic AI
Agentic AI offers numerous benefits, including:
Autonomous task management
Agentic AI can independently plan and execute actions to achieve specific goals, making it ideal for automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks. For instance, it can handle customer queries without human intervention.
Adaptability and learning
These systems quickly adapt to environmental changes and improve through experience, which is highly valuable in dynamic industries. For example, it can optimize inventory based on fluctuating demand.
Efficiency and scalability
By automating workflows, agentic AI increases efficiency and supports business growth—particularly in data-intensive sectors like finance, where it can analyze large datasets to formulate investment strategies.
Data-driven decision making
Agentic AI can generate actionable insights from large data sets, enabling more informed decisions. For example, marketing teams can analyze consumer behavior to design more effective campaigns.
Human-AI collaboration
By handling routine tasks, agentic AI enables human employees to focus on creative and strategic work, thereby boosting both employee satisfaction and innovation. A software team, for example, can use it for automated coding and testing.
Security and risk management
Agentic AI can detect anomalies, identify potential risks in advance, and take appropriate measures to mitigate them. In cybersecurity, it can monitor network traffic and automatically respond to threats.
Multi-agent collaboration
Agentic AI systems enable coordinated efforts among multiple AI agents to manage complex tasks effectively. In manufacturing, different agents can simultaneously handle production planning, quality control, and inventory management.
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