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| title: "Part 11: Agentic AI vs AI Agent" | ||
| date: 2025-08-11T08:48:18.066Z | ||
| priority: -2 | ||
| author: Dinesh R Singh | ||
| authorimage: /img/dinesh-192-192.jpg | ||
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| tags: | ||
| - Agentic AI | ||
| - "AI Agents " | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. Please remove the double quotes for this tag (AI Agents). |
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| - LLM Framework | ||
| - LLM | ||
| - Private aI | ||
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| ## Introduction | ||
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| Artificial Intelligence (AI) is evolving rapidly, and two terms — Agentic AI and AI Agent — are increasingly appearing in business strategy documents, technical roadmaps, and boardroom discussions. While they sound similar, they represent distinct concepts with different implications for enterprise strategy, operations, and innovation. | ||
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| For business leaders and senior managers, understanding the distinction is not just academic — it can determine whether an AI initiative scales effectively, integrates seamlessly into your operations, and delivers measurable ROI. | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. Suggestion: |
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| ### This article breaks down Agentic AI vs AI Agent with: | ||
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| * Clear definitions and conceptual differences | ||
| * Technical underpinnings | ||
| * Business use cases | ||
| * Strategic considerations for adoption | ||
| * Risks and governance | ||
| * Future trends | ||
| * References for deeper exploration | ||
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| ## 1. Defining the Terms | ||
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| ### 1.1 AI Agent | ||
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| An **AI Agent is a single, autonomous software program** that perceives an environment, makes decisions, and takes actions toward a defined goal, often within a narrow domain. | ||
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| **Key characteristics:** | ||
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| * Operates **within a predefined scope** | ||
| * Uses **rules, heuristics, or ML models** for decision-making | ||
| * Limited ability to adapt beyond programmed or trained boundaries | ||
| * Often embedded into **applications or workflows** for a specific function | ||
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| **Examples:** | ||
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| * A chatbot that answers HR policy questions | ||
| * A recommendation engine for an e-commerce site | ||
| * An autonomous trading bot | ||
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| ### 1.2 Agentic AI | ||
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| **Agentic AI** is a **system of multiple AI agents orchestrated to work collaboratively**, often with **dynamic planning, self-reflection, and multi-step reasoning** capabilities. It moves beyond isolated automation toward **goal-oriented, adaptive, and multi-role AI-driven ecosystems.** | ||
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| **Key characteristics:** | ||
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| * **Multi-agent orchestration**: Different specialized agents work together | ||
| * **Autonomy in task decomposition**: Breaks high-level goals into sub-tasks | ||
| * **Reasoning loops**: Self-reflects, evaluates outcomes, retries or adjusts | ||
| * **Tool integration**: Uses APIs, databases, and other systems dynamically | ||
| * **Adaptability**: Learns and optimizes over time | ||
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| **Examples:** | ||
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| * An AI-powered compliance team where: | ||
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| * Agent A scans documents | ||
| * Agent B applies regulatory rules | ||
| * Agent C drafts compliance reports | ||
| * Orchestrator Agent manages workflows and escalations | ||
| * An industrial repair assistant that autonomously diagnoses, orders parts, and schedules technicians | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. Maybe add a period at the end of the sentence: ...and schedules technicians. |
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| **Quick Analogy:** | ||
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| * **AI Agent** = A skilled individual employee | ||
| * **Agentic AI =** A **self-managed, multi-skilled team** with a project manager, analysts, and doers — all AI-driven | ||
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| ## 2. Technical Architecture Differences | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. To be checked with Dale: 2. Technical architecture differences |
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| <table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> | ||
| <thead style="background-color:#f2f2f2"> | ||
| <tr> | ||
| <th>Feature</th> | ||
| <th>AI Agent</th> | ||
| <th>Agentic AI</th> | ||
| </tr> | ||
| </thead> | ||
| <tbody> | ||
| <tr> | ||
| <td><strong>Scope</strong></td> | ||
| <td>Narrow, task-specific</td> | ||
| <td>Broad, multi-task, goal-oriented</td> | ||
| </tr> | ||
| <tr> | ||
| <td><strong>Architecture</strong></td> | ||
| <td>Single process or microservice</td> | ||
| <td>Multi-agent framework with orchestration layer</td> | ||
| </tr> | ||
| <tr> | ||
| <td><strong>Decision-making</strong></td> | ||
| <td>Rule-based or model-based within fixed scope</td> | ||
| <td>Multi-step reasoning, task decomposition</td> | ||
| </tr> | ||
| <tr> | ||
| <td><strong>Adaptability</strong></td> | ||
| <td>Limited</td> | ||
| <td>High (dynamic adaptation to changing contexts)</td> | ||
| </tr> | ||
| <tr> | ||
| <td><strong>Integration</strong></td> | ||
| <td>Usually integrates with one system</td> | ||
| <td>Connects to multiple tools, APIs, data sources</td> | ||
| </tr> | ||
| <tr> | ||
| <td><strong>Examples of Frameworks</strong></td> | ||
| <td>Rasa, Botpress, Dialogflow</td> | ||
| <td>LangChain Agents, AutoGPT, BabyAGI, Agno Framework</td> | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. Suggestion to be consistent with other blog posts where AGNO framework is mentioned: Agno Framework --> AGNO framework |
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| </tr> | ||
| </tbody> | ||
| </table> | ||
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| ## 3. Business Use Cases | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. To be checked with Dale: 3. Business use cases |
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| ### 3.1 AI Agent Use Cases | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. To be checked with Dale: 3.1 AI Agent use cases |
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| * **Customer Support Bots** – Provide FAQs and simple troubleshooting | ||
| * **Automated Trading Systems** – Execute trades based on pre-defined signals | ||
| * **HR Chatbots** – Answer leave policy questions | ||
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| **Business Impact:**Quick to deploy, lower cost, but limited in complexity and scope. | ||
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| ### 3.2 Agentic AI Use Cases | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. To be checked with Dale: 3.2 Agentic AI use cases |
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| * **Regulatory Compliance Automation** – Multiple agents scan, analyze, summarize, and report | ||
| * **Healthcare Assistants** – Agents for symptoms checking, scheduling, and generating discharge summaries | ||
| * **Complex Industrial Troubleshooting** – Agents for diagnostics, parts ordering, repair instructions | ||
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| **Business Impact:**Higher complexity but greater ROI potential through process automation at scale. | ||
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| ## 4. Strategic Considerations for Business Leaders | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. To be checked with Dale: 4. Strategic considerations for business leaders |
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| ### 4.1 When to Use an AI Agent | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. To be checked with Dale: 4.1 When to use an AI Agent |
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| * You have a **clear, narrow task** | ||
| * The process is **repeatable with predictable inputs/outputs** | ||
| * ROI needs to be realized quickly with low implementation risk | ||
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| ### 4.2 When to Use Agentic AI | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. To be checked with Dale: 4.2 When to use Agentic AI |
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| * Multiple complex workflows need **coordination** | ||
| * There is **uncertainty and variability** in the environment | ||
| * Long-term scalability and adaptability are priorities | ||
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| **Case Example:**\ | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. Remove the "\" at the end of the Case Example: Suggestion: Case example: |
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| A bank could deploy: | ||
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| * **AI Agent:** To answer customer queries about loan status | ||
| * **Agentic AI:** To orchestrate fraud detection, compliance checks, and customer communication in an integrated way | ||
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| ## 5. Risks, Challenges, and Governance | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. To be checked with Dale: 5. Risks, challenges, and governance |
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| ### 5.1 AI Agent Risks | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. To be checked with Dale: 5.1 AI Agent risks |
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| * **Overfitting to narrow tasks** | ||
| * Limited scalability | ||
| * Vulnerable to changing business requirements | ||
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| ### 5.2 Agentic AI Risks | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. To be checked with Dale: 5.2 Agentic AI risks |
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| * **Complexity** in orchestration | ||
| * Higher **cost of development and maintenance** | ||
| * **AI hallucinations** amplified if orchestration lacks guardrails | ||
| * Governance challenges (data security, compliance, ethics) | ||
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| **Mitigation Strategies:** | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. To be checked with Dale: Mitigation strategies: |
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| * **Guardrails**: NeMo Guardrails, policy frameworks | ||
| * **Auditability**: Maintain decision logs | ||
| * **Ethics**: Align with corporate AI principles | ||
| * **Testing**:Continuous evaluation under real-world conditions | ||
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| ## 6. Technology Enablers | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. To be checked with Dale: 6. Technology enablers |
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| * **For AI Agents:** | ||
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| * Rasa, Dialogflow, Botpress | ||
| * Domain-specific ML models | ||
| * **For Agentic AI:** | ||
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| * LangChain multi-agent orchestration | ||
| * AutoGPT & BabyAGI architectures | ||
| * Agno Framework (for enterprise-grade agent teams) | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. Suggestion: |
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| * Vector databases (Qdrant, Milvus) | ||
| * LLMs (GPT-4, Claude, LLaMA variants) | ||
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| ## 7. Future Trends | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. To be checked with Dale: 7. Future trends |
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| * **Hybrid Systems** – AI Agents enhanced with Agentic AI orchestration | ||
| * **Industry-Specific Agent Ecosystems** – Pre-built for finance, healthcare, logistics | ||
| * **Agent Marketplaces** – Plug-and-play agents that integrate into orchestrators | ||
| * **Integration with IoT & Edge AI –** Enabling real-time decision-making in physical environments | ||
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| ## 8. Decision Framework for Leaders | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. To be checked with Dale: 8. Decision framework for leaders |
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| <table border="1" cellpadding="8" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;"> | ||
| <thead style="background-color:#f2f2f2"> | ||
| <tr> | ||
| <th>Question</th> | ||
| <th>If “Yes” →</th> | ||
| <th>Answer</th> | ||
| </tr> | ||
| </thead> | ||
| <tbody> | ||
| <tr> | ||
| <td>Is the task narrow & predictable?</td> | ||
| <td>AI Agent</td> | ||
| <td>✅</td> | ||
| </tr> | ||
| <tr> | ||
| <td>Does it require multi-step reasoning?</td> | ||
| <td>Agentic AI</td> | ||
| <td>✅</td> | ||
| </tr> | ||
| <tr> | ||
| <td>Will it integrate with one system only?</td> | ||
| <td>AI Agent</td> | ||
| <td>✅</td> | ||
| </tr> | ||
| <tr> | ||
| <td>Do you need adaptability to changing inputs?</td> | ||
| <td>Agentic AI</td> | ||
| <td>✅</td> | ||
| </tr> | ||
| <tr> | ||
| <td>Is speed-to-market the top priority?</td> | ||
| <td>AI Agent</td> | ||
| <td>✅</td> | ||
| </tr> | ||
| <tr> | ||
| <td>Is scalability across processes the goal?</td> | ||
| <td>Agentic AI</td> | ||
| <td>✅</td> | ||
| </tr> | ||
| </tbody> | ||
| </table> | ||
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| ## 9. Conclusion | ||
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| The choice between **AI Agent** and **Agentic AI** is not binary — many enterprises will deploy both. The key is **understanding the maturity of your AI roadmap**, your operational complexity, and your scalability ambitions. | ||
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| * **AI Agents** are quick wins for automation | ||
| * **Agentic AI** is a long-term strategic play for transformation | ||
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| By aligning your choice with business strategy and technical capability, you position your organization to move from isolated AI successes to enterprise-wide AI transformation. | ||
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| ## References | ||
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| 1. Russell, S., & Norvig, P. (2021). Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. Pearson. | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. Do you have a link to this document? |
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| 2. LangChain Documentation – https://docs.langchain.com | ||
| 3. Auto-GPT – <https://github.com/Torantulino/Auto-GPT> | ||
| 4. Agno Framework – https://agno.ai | ||
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There was a problem hiding this comment. Suggestion: Please note that the link https://agno.ai is not reachable. (error: can't reach this page). |
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Please check with Dale for the title. I am not sure whether the title should be as is, or slightly changed as follows:
Part 11: Agentic AI vs AI agent
Rationale: In part 2 of the series, https://developer.hpe.com/blog/from-generative-to-agentic-ai-%E2%80%94-part-2-what-makes-ai-agents-truly-intelligent/, the "AI agent" is written in lowercase, where "Agentic AI" has an upper case "A" for Agentic in other blog posts of the series.