I keep hearing about AI agents everywhere but honestly I’m confused about what they actually are. Every company seems to call their product an AI agent now, even if it’s just basic automation or a chatbot with extra steps.
Some people tell me real agents need to be able to plan ahead, make decisions on their own, take actions, and get better over time. But then others say it’s basically just a smarter virtual assistant with a fancy name.
The whole thing feels like marketing hype to me. How can you tell if something is actually an intelligent agent or just another tool with the agent label slapped on it? What features should I look for to know it’s the real deal?
You’re right to be skeptical. The marketing around AI agents is pretty wild right now.
I’ve been working on agent systems for years, and here’s what I look for. A real AI agent breaks down complex tasks into smaller steps without you spelling out exactly how. When I ask our internal agent to “prepare the quarterly performance report,” it knows to pull data from three different databases, run analysis, format charts, and send it to stakeholders.
The key difference is autonomy. Most chatbots wait for your next instruction after each response. Real agents keep working toward the goal you gave them. They make decisions about what to do next based on what they learned from previous steps.
Another thing I check is whether it handles failures gracefully. If an API call fails or data is missing, does it try alternative approaches or just give up? Good agents adapt their strategy.
Memory is huge too. Not just remembering our conversation, but learning patterns from all the tasks it’s handled. Our agent now knows that when I ask for performance data on Fridays, I usually need it formatted for the Monday team meeting.
If something just follows a predetermined workflow or needs constant hand-holding, it’s probably automation with fancy branding. Real agents surprise you sometimes with creative solutions you didn’t expect.
Easiest test? Ask something completely off-script. If you’re talking to a “sales agent,” suddenly ask them to debug code or plan a vacation. Real people handle those context switches fine - fake ones break or give you that generic “I can’t help with that” response. Also watch if they ask YOU clarifying questions. That’s usually a good sign they’re actually thinking instead of just pattern matching.