The rise of ai agents and agentic ai: What is it exactly?
The Future of Work Automation
AI agents are transforming how we work. Instead of just using automation to connect software tools, we can now "hire" AI agents—specialized, digital workers that follow our instructions and execute specific tasks. They don’t replace humans but enhance productivity, handling repetitive tasks so we can focus on strategy, creativity, and decision-making.
But there’s an even bigger shift happening: the rise of Agentic AI—a more advanced form of AI that doesn’t just follow instructions but acts as a manager of other AI agents, overseeing workflows, making decisions, and adapting strategies in real time.
What Is an AI Agent?
An AI agent is a software-based system designed to perform tasks autonomously based on your guidance. Think of them as digital team members with specific job descriptions. Unlike traditional automation, which connects systems through APIs, AI agents process information, make decisions within defined boundaries, and even interact with humans or other tools.
For example, OpenAI’s GPT models (like ChatGPT) are AI agents. You can create one to generate social media content, complete with engaging captions and relevant hashtags.
However, an AI agent simply executes a task—it does not define a broader goal or adapt beyond what you’ve programmed it to do. That’s where Agentic AI comes in.
The Difference Between AI Agents and Agentic AI
AI agents execute specific tasks based on predefined instructions.
Example: "Create 10 Instagram posts with relevant hashtags."
Agentic AI acts as a manager, overseeing multiple AI agents, reviewing their work, and optimizing the overall strategy.
Example: "Grow my Instagram engagement over the next three months." It would then:
Research engagement trends
Assign tasks to AI agents (one for post creation, another for analytics, another for scheduling)
Review performance and adjust the content plan based on engagement data
In other words, agentic AI doesn’t just do the work—it manages the work, making strategic adjustments as needed.
AI Agents in Your Workflow
Even without fully agentic AI, today’s AI agents already provide massive efficiency gains. Here are some practical ways they can integrate into real business processes:
Lead Qualification Chatbot: An AI agent can engage prospects on your website, ask qualifying questions, and book meetings if they meet your criteria.
Automated Research Assistant: Need market trends, competitor analysis, or customer insights? An AI agent can fetch and summarize data for you.
Email & CRM Integration: AI agents can draft, personalize, and schedule emails, ensuring your follow-ups happen at the right time.
Social Media & Content Generation: Instead of manually creating posts, AI agents can generate, optimize, and even schedule them across platforms.
AI Agents and Workflow Integration
With tools like n8n and Zapier, AI agents can be integrated into your existing tech stack—Google Drive, WhatsApp, email marketing platforms, and CRMs. This means your AI agents can:
Retrieve and process data automatically
Send alerts and reports
Update customer records
Perform multi-step workflows without human intervention
The Next Generation of Automation (With Limits)
The shift from simple automation (connecting software via APIs) to AI-driven workflow management is a major breakthrough. Now, we’re not just automating tasks—we're deploying AI-powered digital workers that think, respond, and execute based on context.
But AI agents aren’t perfect. They require proper setup, monitoring, and ethical considerations to ensure accuracy and prevent issues like bias, privacy concerns, or miscommunication. They are not a full replacement for humans but an enhancement—helping us scale work efficiently while keeping human oversight where it matters.
The Future: Agentic AI as a Work Supervisor
Looking ahead, Agentic AI will revolutionize work by acting as a manager of AI agents. Instead of manually defining every task, businesses will soon be able to set high-level objectives, and agentic AI will:
Determine the best strategy to reach the goal
Assign tasks to AI agents to execute specific actions
Review and optimize results in real time
Adjust workflows dynamically based on changing conditions
This means AI agents will evolve from task-doers into strategic coordinators, capable of self-improving and optimizing workflows with minimal human input. While still in development, monitoring this shift early will give forward-thinking businesses a major advantage.
How to Start Leveraging AI Agents and Agentic AI
If you're not yet taking advantage of AI in your business, now is the time to start. Here are four simple steps to get ahead:
1) Are You Using AI Yet? If Not, Start With ChatGPT
Sign up for ChatGPT, even if it's just for a month or two. Explore how AI can assist in your daily work, from content creation to brainstorming ideas. The best way to understand AI's power is to use it yourself.
2) Configure Your First AI Agents (GPTs in ChatGPT)
In ChatGPT, you can create custom GPTs to perform specific tasks. You don’t need to be a programmer—just define what you need.
Want help selling more? Create a GPT focused on sales enablement.
Need better marketing content? Build a content-writing AI agent.
Want to learn about classical music? Design a chatbot to take your through the entire history of classical music
Alternatively, you can explore and use pre-built GPTs from OpenAI’s store to save time.
3) Let AI Take Your Meeting Notes
Gone are the days when you had to write meeting notes or manually track action items. AI can do it for you so you can stay fully engaged in conversations.
Use Read.ai to automatically transcribe meetings, extract action points, and even analyze your communication style.
Instead of focusing on note-taking, you can actively listen, problem-solve, and lead discussions more effectively.
Read.ai can even coach you on how to improve your performance in future meetings, helping you refine your sales pitches, negotiation skills, or client interactions.
4) Learn About Agentic AI & Automation Tools Like n8n
If you want to take automation to the next level, start learning about agentic AI and workflow automation tools. One worth noting is n8n, which allows you to integrate AI into your existing workflows without needing to code.
I wrote another article on n8n, where I break down how it works and how you can use it to create powerful, AI-driven workflows. A bit of training may be needed depending on your technical level, but it's one of the most accessible automation tools out there.
The Key to Winning in the AI Age
While AI tools are getting easier to use, the real advantage comes from those who take the time to develop technical skills—even just the basics. AI is shaping the future of business, and companies worldwide are rapidly digitizing their operations.
The most valuable way to make money is while you're "sleeping," and agentic AI will be a key pillar in achieving that.
(And yes, I’m putting “sleeping” in quotes—because let’s be real, in successful entrepreneurship, there’s not much actual sleeping. The grind is always on… until it starts working passively!)
So, the question is: Are you ready to build your AI-powered team? The sooner you start, the further ahead you’ll be.
