Definition · foundations
agentic AI
agentic AI is the term for AI designed to choose and carry out actions toward a goal, often through one or more agents. You can spot agentic AI in practice when the record shows what the system observes, what choice it makes, and what changes next, without asking the reader to guess or trust a slogan.
157 definitions656 sourced recordsNamed source: ACL Anthology
Why does agentic AI matter?
This label should prompt questions about action, authority, and oversight. Ask what the system may do and who can stop it. For agentic AI, start with three checks: What can the system observe? What choice can it make? What changes after it acts? The answers should point to visible evidence, not a promise.
What does agentic AI look like?
An operations system finds a failed job, picks a repair step, runs it, and checks the new state. This example makes agentic AI visible by naming the actor, the action, and the result in practice. It is an illustration for readers, not a claim that every product behaves this way.
What is agentic AI easy to confuse with?
Agentic AI is a broad design class. An AI agent is one system within that class. The closest entries here are agentic, agentic commerce, agency. Compare their definitions with agentic AI before using the names as if they mean the same thing. That comparison keeps agentic AI separate from nearby ideas without pretending the boundary is always perfect.
How certain is this definition?
This definition is provisional. ACL Anthology supports the version you see today, but a better or more direct source may change it. Open the cited page and check its date before you use this entry to choose a product, write a policy, set a safety control, or design a system.
Who introduced the term agentic AI?
We have not verified who first introduced agentic AI. The source supports a useful definition, but it may not be the earliest use. Until a dated primary record settles the question, we leave the origin open. A popular article or product page is not enough to name the person who coined a term.
What should you understand before agentic AI?
Read artificial intelligence (AI) first when agentic AI depends on a more basic idea or mechanism. The link gives you a useful route through the glossary. It does not mean every author teaches the subject in this order, so follow the source when the sequence matters.
What should this term help you answer?
Use agentic AI to ask what an agent can observe, decide, change, remember, or hand off. The questions below turn the definition into a practical check. They are prompts for your own work, not claims made by the source, so change them to fit the system you are examining.
- What can the system observe?
- What choice can it make?
- What changes after it acts?
Which source supports this definition of agentic AI?
ACL Anthology supports this working definition of agentic AI. We checked the link on 2026-07-12. Open the original record for its context, methods, limits, and publication details. The short explanation here is a guide to agentic AI; the linked source remains the evidence to inspect when the wording or boundary matters.
source foundagentic AIChecked 2026-07-12→