Everything You Need to Know about AI Agents
Chatbots answer questions.
AI agents get things done.
Image generated by Imagen 3. Prompt: generate an image—chatbot vs. AI agent
Earlier in the week, I shared an Agentic JIRA POC and joked about how it would automate the rest of my JIRA stories.
Let’s take a step back for a second…
What are AI agents, and why do they matter?
AI agents take actions by combining LLMs with deterministic tools to perform complex tasks.
↳ Planning: Breaking down big goals into step-by-step actions.
↳ Reasoning: Making smart decisions based on knowledge and context.
↳ Tool Use: Calling APIs, running searches, and even controlling physical devices.
↳ Memory Propagation: Remembering past interactions to improve future decisions.
↳ Proactive Actions: Not just waiting for input—but driving outcomes.
I used LangGraph for my POC—a framework that can adapt based on user input, by defining states and integrating external APIs for real-time information retrieval.
These components connect in a responsive graph structure, enabling smooth transitions between conversation and tool-assisted responses.
