What is AI Agent?
An AI agent is an LLM-powered software system that takes actions — calling APIs, querying data, executing multi-step workflows — to achieve a goal.
Definition
An AI agent is a software system built on top of a large language model (LLM) like GPT-4 or Claude, that can understand a user's goal, plan a sequence of steps, call tools (APIs, databases, functions) to execute them, observe results, and adapt. Unlike a chatbot — which maps inputs to outputs — an agent takes action. In 2026, most production AI agents are built using frameworks like LangGraph or the OpenAI Agents SDK, with RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) over private data, function calling for tool invocation, and observability via LangSmith or Langfuse.
Want to ship something with this technology?
Free 30-minute strategy call with a senior engineer. We'll quote your project in writing within 48 hours.
Book My Strategy Call