99% 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴: 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗜 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 — 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀! ⬇️ Let’s clarify it once and for all: ⬇️ 1. 𝗔𝗜 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆, 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 ➜ AI agents are modular, goal-directed systems that operate within clearly defined boundaries. They’re built to: * Use tools (APIs, browsers, databases) * Execute specific, task-oriented workflows * React to prompts or real-time inputs * Plan short sequences and return actionable outputs 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦: 𝘊𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘴, 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩, 𝘌𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘔𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘊𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 But even the most advanced are limited by scope. They don’t initiate. They don’t collaborate. They execute what we ask! 2. 𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗜: 𝗔 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 ➜ Agentic AI is an architectural leap. It’s not just one smarter agent — it’s multiple specialized agents working together toward shared goals. These systems exhibit: * Multi-agent collaboration * Goal decomposition and role assignment * Inter-agent communication via memory or messaging * Persistent context across time and tasks * Recursive planning and error recovery * Distributed orchestration and adaptive feedback Agentic AI systems don’t just follow instructions. They coordinate. They adapt. They manage complexity. 𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦: 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺/𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭-𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲? AI Agents = autonomous tools for single-task execution Agentic AI = orchestrated ecosystems for workflow-level intelligence 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: ⬇️ 𝗢𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁: a smart thermostat, which can be an AI Agent. It keeps your room at 21°C. Maybe it learns your schedule. But it’s working alone. 𝗢𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Agentic AI. A full smart home ecosystem — weather-aware, energy-optimized, schedule-sensitive. Agents talk to each other. They share data. They make coordinated decisions to optimize your comfort, cost, and security in real time. That’s the shift = From pure task automation to goal-driven orchestration. From single-agent logic to collaborative intelligence. This is what’s coming = This is Agentic AI. And if we confuse “agent” with “agentic,” we risk underbuilding for what AI is truly capable of. The Cornell University paper in the comments on this topic is excellent! ⬇️
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Wunderbar 😀🙏🏻
Extremely helpful, exactly what I was looking for. I think it is so important to know what questions to ask, if somebody mentions, talks about or sells „Agents“. Thx
Well explained!
Andreas Horn, so true. Language mix-ups can totally mess with what a small biz expects from AI. Need to get the terms right before jumping in.
We can listen to this podcast, which is created based on the specified research paper https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df1rLprOxAc
Thanks for sharing
Nice graph too. One way to think about it: AI Agent = skilled worker Agentic AI = high-performing team Starting with an agent is a solid first step— but the real magic happens when they start collaborating.
Thank you, Andreas. This is one of the clearest distinctions I’ve come across between AI Agents and Agentic AI . The diagram is very useful. Brilliant insights
Head of AIOps @ IBM || Speaker | Lecturer | Advisor
4moVery good paper on comprehensive taxonomy and comparison between AI Agents and Agentic AI, clarifying their conceptual, architectural, and operational differences (source of the graphic as well). It's must read! https://arxiv.org/pdf/2505.10468