Task agents
Execute bounded, repeatable actions such as summarization, classification or data lookup.
AGENTIC AI
Agentic AI
Design AI agents that can plan and execute bounded work while remaining observable, permissioned and accountable to human operators.
01
Agent patterns
Different tasks call for different levels of autonomy.
Workflow agents
Move through multi-step business processes with tools, state, validation and approvals.
Research agents
Gather, compare and synthesize information across approved sources.
Operations agents
Support service, operations or back-office teams with action-oriented assistance.
02
Agent operating model
Reliable agentic systems need more than prompts.
Tools & permissions
Explicit tools, scoped permissions and validated actions.
Planning & state
Clear task boundaries, state management and retry behavior.
Human oversight
Approval checkpoints for sensitive, irreversible or ambiguous actions.
Evaluation
Scenario-based testing for task completion, tool use, factuality and policy adherence.
Monitoring
Observe runs, failures, latency, costs and changes in behavior over time.
03
When not to use agents
If a deterministic workflow or traditional automation can solve the problem more reliably and cheaply, it may be the better choice. Agentic AI is most useful where work requires flexible reasoning, knowledge retrieval, tool use or coordination across variable cases.
NEXT STEP
Find a workflow worth automating.
Start by defining the job the agent must perform, the tools it may use, the decisions it must never make alone and the evidence required to trust its output.