Glossary
AI agent — Glossary
A system that pursues goals by choosing actions over multiple steps, often using tools, memory, and feedback from an environment.
Full definition
An AI agent senses context, decides what to do next, acts, and repeats until it reaches a stopping condition. In software products, agents frequently use a language model to plan and call tools such as search, browsers, or APIs. In classical AI and robotics, agents may use planning algorithms or reinforcement learning policies.
Useful agents are constrained: limited tools, budgets, permissions, logging, and human approval for irreversible actions. Multi-step autonomy increases both productivity potential and risk, including prompt injection through untrusted content.