What is an AI Agent?

Definition

An AI Agent is a software system that can understand a goal, reason about the required steps, use available tools, and execute actions within defined permissions.

Simple explanation

Think of an agent as a capable assistant with a task list and a set of tools. It plans what to do, uses the right tool for each step, checks the result, and keeps going until the goal is done.

Technical explanation

An agent combines a large language model (the reasoning brain), a set of tool definitions, and a control loop. The control loop iterates: