An AI agent is a system that does not just answer: it pursues a goal by chaining several steps, choosing for itself which actions to take and taking their results into account. Where an AI assistant answers a question, an agent can, for example, look up information, compare two options, fill in a form and send a confirmation, without being told each step.
What makes an agent
An AI agent usually combines four elements:
- A language model that understands the goal and decides on the next step
- Tools it can call through tool calling: searching documents, querying software, sending a message
- A loop: the model chooses an action, observes the result, decides on the next one, until it reaches the goal or a limit
- A working memory that keeps track of the steps already taken and what they revealed
This "reason, act, observe" loop was formalized in several research papers, including ReAct, published in 2022 by researchers from Princeton and Google. It has become the basis of most current agents.
Assistant or agent: a matter of degree
The line between assistant and agent is not sharp. It depends mainly on the autonomy granted:
| Level | What the system does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Answer | It answers a question from documents | "Your Saturday opening hours?" |
| Simple action | It runs a specific action requested by the conversation | Recording a visitor's contact details |
| Guided sequence | It follows a planned path, with several actions | Qualifying a quote request and passing it on |
| Autonomous agent | It decides the steps itself to reach a goal | Organizing a full trip by comparing options |
Most business assistants sit at the second and third levels. They can act, but within a narrow frame, with limited tools and clear rules.
What agents promise
Agents open up uses that a simple assistant does not cover: handling a request from start to finish, preparing a file by gathering several sources, following an administrative procedure, carrying out research across several websites. The major model and software providers present agents as the next step of generative AI, and the tools are improving quickly.
The caution they call for
The more autonomous a system is, the more its errors matter:
- Errors compound. A wrong decision at the first step carries into the next ones, and the final result can be wrong without anything flagging it
- The actions are real. An e-mail sent, an order placed or a record changed cannot always be undone
- The cost is less predictable. A loop that runs for a long time consumes a lot of tokens
- Manipulation is more dangerous. An agent that reads a web page or a document may find hidden malicious instructions there, and follow them if nothing stops it
- Responsibility remains human. The business is accountable for its agent's actions as it is for its website
Rules for a sensible agent
- A narrow goal rather than a vague mission
- Declared, limited tools, with minimal rights
- A cap on the number of steps and on running time
- Human confirmation before any irreversible or binding action
- A complete log of every step, available afterwards
- Guardrails that block instructions coming from the data it reads
Does an SME need an agent?
To answer a website's visitors, rarely in its autonomous form. An assistant that answers from documents, collects useful information, passes requests to the team and can query one or two tools covers most needs, with controlled risk. Full autonomy makes sense for well-defined internal tasks, where every action can be checked.
Be wary of the word "agent" in sales presentations: it sometimes means a simple assistant, sometimes a system able to act on its own in your tools. Ask exactly which actions it can take, with which rights, and who approves them.
Agents and KernChat
KernChat assistants can act, within a frame set by the organization. During a conversation, the assistant can chain several declared actions, such as querying an external service and then recording a request, before answering. The possible actions are limited to those that have been declared, every run is logged, and binding decisions stay with the team, to whom the assistant hands over.