What is agentic AI and what can it do for your business?

Published: 28 October, 2024

AI is evolving rapidly and it's showing no signs of slowing down. As soon as you think you've caught up with the latest trend, a new one comes along. The hottest topic in the AI space right now is agentic AI. If your very first experience with AI left you starry-eyed, then get ready, because this type of AI is designed to operate with agency. More autonomously. More human-like. But without direct human input… Sounds like the perfect prelude for a sci-fi movie to play out in real life, but hear us out: AI agents could be the key for your business to stay ahead.

What is agentic AI?

Agentic AI is a type of AI system that operates with a higher level of autonomy and decision-making ability. It's designed to act more like humans, capable of setting goals, initiating actions, adapting to changing environments and learning from experiences independently. The key distinction is that agentic AI is proactive rather than reactive. While traditional AI systems are great at performing tasks they're trained or programmed for, agentic AI takes it one step further. It doesn't need your instructions or further input to get something done. It gets the thing done by generating its own actions and solving complex, unforeseen challenges.

How does it work?

Let's compare agentic AI to something you're probably more familiar with; generative AI. It's great for generating content that mimics human-generated content. This isn't surprising since that's exactly what it's been programmed and trained for. However, most of the time, it needs you to make multiple prompt refinements to achieve the desired response. An AI agent, on the other hand, goes beyond that. Since it's more autonomous, it can refine your prompt by itself and deliver more accurate responses to you.

For example, when prompted to create a website, traditional AI might guide you through the steps to build one, whereas an AI agent would actually create one by refining it based on its own analysis and learning. It's capable of doing this because it analyzes data, determines what should be done, acts on it and monitors the outcome. If something works well, it remembers for next time, and if something doesn't work well, it adjusts accordingly. This way, it learns from its own experiences and improves how to solve these types of tasks.

The path forward with agentic AI

The real-world applications of agentic AI are diverse. Imagine automating complex tasks like predictive maintenance or customer service, and allowing AI agents to learn, adapt and execute autonomously. Their abilities to continuously analyze, solve problems and adapt independently make AI agents ideal for complex and changing environments. For industries like finance, healthcare and logistics, the potential is huge as systems can adjust to new regulations, streamline care and optimize supply chains without human intervention.

As you can imagine, the implementation of agentic AI opens up a whole new world of possibilities for businesses. But as exciting as it is, it doesn't come without its challenges. It still requires a cautious approach. Balancing autonomy with control is key to ensuring that the use of agentic AI systems aligns with ethical standards and business goals.

Curious how an AI agent can serve your business?

As a business, it's important to understand where this technology fits into your processes. Whether it's improving efficiency or tackling complex tasks, agentic AI can be the key to staying ahead of the competition. If you want to explore how your business can leverage AI for maximum value, get in touch with us at Nytt IQ.

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