Agent.
A system that uses AI to work towards a goal through making decisions and taking actions often using a variety of tools. The agent is specifically autonomous (or at least, partially autonomous) when it comes to many of these steps to decide and act, and only involves a human if told to do so (which is usually called Human in the Loop). Worth knowing that something like ChatGPT or a chatbot is not in itself an "agent" as it doesn't take action steps autonomously. Agents can use a variety of tools and systems and even different models, and can be multiple agents used together for different steps with different strengths, tasks and focuses (orchestration). Until recently, agents were usually used for work contexts to run workflows but with the emergence of Meta's Muse Agent, ChatGPT's dots, and Instinct personal agents are now in consumer's hands as has been long predicted. This is likely to impact commerce and ecommerce and well as person-to-person interactions
In the wild
“Gartner Predicts AI Agents Will Outnumber Sellers 10 to 1 by 2028”
Seen here: Gartner, 2026
For AI users
Agents can bring increased speed, capacity and quality to your work, and can also mean you're more able to choose the right kind of AI for different steps in a task or workflow. When using an agent in a workflow, it might be that rethinking how the flow works, rather than just replicating exactly how you used to do things as a human, gives you better outcomes. Take care to sense check what you share with an AI agent and what controls you have in place. Does the agent need to check in with you before taking an action? Agents have been known to go rogue, or to interpret goals differently from how the user intended, so it's definitely worth having ways to check and control their work given the potential risk of them autonomously going off and doing things. At work, it's likely that if an agent you control does something, it's your responsibility.
For business leaders
Agents are essentially part of your org chart. They can boost the productivity of your workforce through managing specific workflows and by definition can take actions so knowing who is responsible for which agent and their outcomes is key. Good governance steps need to be in place to make sure the agent is controlled. How much can they spend? What actions can they take? How can we check the work they're doing? What are the limits? Think of an agent like a junior team member: they need clear instructions, boundaries, trustworthy data, and probably a watchful eye. Landing an agent into a confused workflow is unlikely to yield good results, so consider getting the workflow and the data right first. It might feel slower, but it will probably lead to better outcomes, especially when you consider the harm that can come from agents whose goals are misaligned or whose boundaries aren't clear. Agents will be changing how customers interact with your brand and products, whether your customers are B2B or B2C, and this alone will require a refresh of tactics and methods to continue customer acquisition, engagement and purchasing over time