An AI Agent is the fundamental operating unit of an Agentic AI system: an autonomous software entity that perceives its environment, processes information, makes decisions, and acts to achieve a defined objective.
An agent is purpose-built for a specific domain and operates continuously without prompting. One assigned to equipment monitoring ingests vibration and temperature data, identifies deviation patterns, cross-references maintenance logs, and triggers a work order, all without human initiation. Multiple agents working in parallel, each with a defined role, form the basis of a Multi-Agent System.