What is an AI agent? An AI agent is a software system that can reason through a goal, plan the steps to reach it, and then take action with tools, all with little human help.

That last part matters. A regular AI model answers a question and stops. An agent keeps going. It decides what to do next, runs the steps, checks the result, and adjusts until the job is done.

Most articles explain agents through office work. They cover fraud checks, IT tickets, and database lookups. Those examples are real, but they miss a bigger shift. An agent does not only research and answer. It can research, reason, plan, and then produce finished work. That second kind of agent, the one that hands back something ready to use instead of more notes, is the more useful kind for creatives. The Hedra agent turns its research into finished video, image, and audio in one workflow. We are the only general agent that uses its research to create finished media. We will come back to that idea throughout this guide.

What Is an AI Agent? A Clear Definition

An AI agent is a system that uses a large language model to reason about a goal, break it into steps, and act on those steps using external tools. It works toward an outcome instead of answering one prompt at a time.

Think of the difference this way. A calculator gives you an answer. A worker takes your goal, figures out the path, gathers what they need, and hands back a finished result. An AI agent is closer to the second one.

IBM describes an agent as a system that can autonomously reason through problems, break down tasks, create plans, and run those plans using a set of tools (IBM, 2024). McKinsey frames agentic AI as systems built on foundation models that can plan and run multi-step processes in the real world (McKinsey, 2025).

The common thread across both views is simple. An agent does not just talk. It acts.

An AI agent is software that reasons, plans, and uses tools to finish a goal on its own.

How AI Agents Differ From Chatbots and Basic Automation

Creatives often mix up three things: chatbots, automation scripts, and AI agents. They look similar from the outside. Inside, they work in very different ways.

A chatbot responds to one message at a time. It does not hold a long-term goal. Basic automation follows a fixed set of rules that a person wrote in advance. It cannot handle a step it was not told about. An AI agent sets its own steps, picks its own tools, and changes course when something does not work.

McKinsey draws this line clearly. Unlike chatbots that respond to single queries, agents can break down complex tasks, make in-between decisions, work across several systems, and finish a process end to end (McKinsey, 2025).

The table below shows the gap at a glance.

Trait

Chatbot

Basic Automation

AI Agent

Goal handling

One message at a time

Fixed task only

Multi-step goal

Decisions

None

Pre-set rules

Makes its own

Tool use

Rare

Limited, scripted

Chooses tools to fit the job

Adapts to surprises

No

No

Yes

Output

A reply

A set result

A finished outcome

A chatbot answers, automation repeats, but an agent decides.

For a closer look at agents built for creative work, see our guide to the best AI agents for content creation.

The Core Components of an AI Agent

An AI agent is made of a few parts that work together. IBM groups the main capabilities into reasoning and planning, tools, and memory (IBM, 2024). Each part has a clear job.

Reasoning and Planning

Reasoning is how the agent thinks through a problem. It weighs options, follows logic, and decides what to do next. Planning is how it turns a goal into an ordered list of steps.

A good agent does not guess at one giant action. It breaks a big goal into small, doable parts. Then it runs those parts in the right order. Strong agents can even run several steps at the same time when the steps do not depend on each other.

Tools and Function Calling

A model on its own only knows what it was trained on. Tools let an agent reach past that limit. Through function calling, an agent can search the web, read a file, write to a system, or run code.

This is where open standards help. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard, introduced by Anthropic in November 2024, for connecting AI assistants to the systems where data lives (Anthropic, 2024). With a shared standard, one agent can plug into many tools without a custom build for each one.

The Hedra agent uses MCP to read and write across connected systems, runs code in a safe sandbox, and pulls live web research before it acts.

Memory

Memory is how an agent holds context over time. Without it, an agent forgets the last step the moment it finishes. With it, the agent can recall past steps, keep track of a long task, and learn from what already happened.

Short-term memory holds the current task. Long-term memory holds facts and patterns the agent can reuse later. Both let the agent stay on track across a long job.

Reasoning sets the path, tools take the action, and memory keeps the work connected.

Types of AI Agents

Not all agents work the same way. They range from simple to advanced. Knowing the types helps you match the right agent to the right job.

Simple reflex agents act on the current input only. They follow basic rules and ignore history.

Model-based agents keep an internal picture of the world. They use it to handle situations they cannot fully see.

Goal-based agents plan steps that move toward a clear goal.

Utility-based agents weigh trade-offs and pick the option with the best overall result.

Learning agents improve over time by adjusting from feedback.

Most modern agents built on large language models blend several of these. They hold a goal, plan steps, weigh trade-offs, and learn from results inside one system.

There is also a split by scope. A task-specific agent does one job well, like sorting support tickets. A general agent can take on many kinds of work and choose the right tools and models for each one.

The more an agent can plan, weigh, and learn, the more independent it becomes.

Concrete Examples and Use Cases

Agents are moving from demos into daily work. Gartner predicts that 40 percent of enterprise applications will feature task-specific AI agents by 2026, up from less than 5 percent in 2025 (Gartner, 2025). That is a fast jump in a short window.

Here are common places agents show up today.

Customer support. An agent reads a question, checks order history, and resolves the issue without a handoff.

Software help. A coding agent reads a bug report, edits files, runs tests, and proposes a fix.

Research. An agent searches many sources, pulls the key facts, and writes a summary with citations.

Operations. An agent watches a queue, spots a problem, and runs the fix on a schedule.

The Use Case Most Guides Miss: The Creative Producer

Most explainers stop at research and answers. They treat the agent as a smart helper that hands you notes. That view is too small.

An agent can also be a creative producer. It can research a topic, reason about the angle, plan a script, and then make the finished video, image, or audio. The output is not a memo. It is a piece ready to publish.

This is the lane Hedra builds for, and it is where an agent earns its keep for creatives: the research is only worth as much as the finished piece it turns into. The Hedra agent does the research, makes a plan, and then produces finished media in one workflow, choosing the right model for each part of the job. For character performance, that means Omnia, the audio-driven model that reads an image, a voice, and a script together to create expressive character performances. We are the only general agent that uses its research to create finished media. You can read the story behind the upgraded Hedra agent, or see how these end-to-end creative workflows come together in practice.

The next leap for AI agents is not just answering faster. It is making the finished work itself.

Key Takeaways

An AI agent is software that reasons about a goal, plans the steps, and uses tools to finish the job with little human help.

Agents differ from chatbots and scripts because they set their own steps, pick their own tools, and adjust when something fails.

The core parts are reasoning and planning, tools and function calling, and memory, often connected through open standards like MCP.

Agent types range from simple reflex agents to general agents that handle many jobs and choose the right tools each time.

The use case most guides miss is the creative producer: an agent that researches, plans, and then makes finished video, image, and audio.

Reusable playbooks make these workflows repeatable. Saved Skills let you run the same research-to-video sequence with one command, then change only what is new for each run.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an AI agent in simple terms?

An AI agent is a software system that takes a goal, plans the steps to reach it, and uses tools to finish the work. Unlike a chatbot, it does not stop after one reply. It keeps acting until the goal is met or it needs your input.

How is an AI agent different from a chatbot?

A chatbot responds to one message at a time and does not hold a long-term goal. An AI agent breaks a goal into steps, picks tools, and works across systems to finish a task end to end. The agent decides what to do next on its own.

What are the main parts of an AI agent?

The main parts are reasoning and planning, tools and function calling, and memory. Reasoning and planning set the path. Tools let the agent act in the real world. Memory keeps context across steps so the agent stays on track (IBM, 2024).

Can an AI agent create content like video or images?

Yes. A creative agent can research a topic, plan a script, and then produce finished video, image, and audio. The output is ready to publish, not just a set of notes. This is the workflow we build at Hedra, where the research feeds straight into the finished piece for creatives.

Are AI agents the same as agentic AI?

The terms overlap. Agentic AI is the broader idea of AI systems that can plan and run multi-step work in the real world (McKinsey, 2025). An AI agent is a single system that does this for a set of goals.

What is function calling in an AI agent?

Function calling is how an agent uses outside tools. It lets the model search the web, read a file, write to a system, or run code. Function calling turns a model that only talks into a system that can act.

How fast are AI agents being adopted?

Adoption is rising quickly. Gartner predicts 40 percent of enterprise applications will feature task-specific AI agents by 2026, up from less than 5 percent in 2025 (Gartner, 2025).

Do AI agents work on their own?

Agents can run many steps on their own, but most still keep a human in the loop for key decisions. They plan and act, then pause for review when the stakes are high. The right level of independence depends on the task.

Hedra makes it possible. What will you create?