What is an AI agent?
An AI agent is software that carries out a task on its own — from answering a question to completing an action — without a human steering every step.
Definition
An AI agent is a software system that carries out steps on its own toward a goal — looking up information, making a decision, completing an action — rather than only responding to a single isolated question.
Context
The difference from a regular chatbot lies in autonomy. A chatbot answers a question; an AI agent carries out a task made up of multiple steps — for example assessing a quote request, pulling the right data from a system, and preparing a draft reply, without someone steering every intermediate step.
For small businesses, the value isn't in an AI agent as a standalone tool, but in an agent with access to the business's own data — customers, orders, calendar — that handles tasks within that context. An agent without that connection stays a demo; an agent with it actually removes work.