AI agent – Definition & Meaning

Definition of AI agent

: an AI system that can pursue a goal over many steps on its own, deciding what to do next, using tools such as search, code, or apps, and checking its own results
- The agent booked the meeting room, sent the invites and updated the spreadsheet.
- Give an agent a clear goal and a way to check its work.

Two meanings, one word

In everyday English

A person who acts on behalf of another, such as a travel or sports agent.

In AI

An AI system that can pursue a goal over many steps on its own, deciding what to do next, using tools such as search, code, or apps, and checking its own results.

Origin & history

first known use2023

'Agent' is an old AI term; the modern sense of an LLM that acts in loops with tools took off in 2023 and became the industry's main focus in 2025.

Test yourself

Which of these is the meaning of AI agent?

Related terms

agentic able to act independently toward a goal, taking multiple steps and making decisions with… tool use a model's ability to call external tools, such as a search engine, calculator, code runner, or… agent loop the repeating cycle at the heart of an agent: the model decides on an action, a tool carries… multi-agent system a setup in which several AI agents, often with different roles, work together or check each… human-in-the-loop describing a system in which a person reviews, approves, or corrects an AI's work at key… chatbot a computer program that holds a conversation with people through text or voice vibe working office work done by describing the result you want to an AI agent inside a document… harness engineering the work of building everything around an AI model that lets it act as a reliable agent… background agent an AI agent that works on a task by itself in the cloud while you do something else, then… agentic browser a web browser with a built-in AI agent that can read pages and act for you, such as filling… agentic commerce shopping in which AI agents search, compare, and buy products or services on a person's…

Cite this entry

"AI agent." AI Dictionary, Dadgogo, https://dadgogo.com/dictionary/ai-agent/. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.