Agentic applications
Also written: Agent applications, AI agents
Applications built with AI agents that can independently plan, reason, and execute tasks to achieve goals.
Agentic applications are software programs that use artificial intelligence agents to perform tasks for you. Think of them like a digital assistant that can understand what you want, figure out the steps to get it done, and then actually do those steps.
For example, an agentic application could help you plan a trip. You might tell it your destination, dates, and budget. The AI agent would then research flights and hotels, compare prices, and even make bookings, all without you having to manually search each website.
Agentic applications are systems that leverage AI agents, which are autonomous or semi-autonomous entities capable of perception, reasoning, planning, and action. These agents can interact with environments, including digital tools and APIs, to accomplish complex, multi-step tasks on behalf of a user or system. The core capability lies in the agent's ability to decompose high-level goals into actionable sub-tasks, execute them, and adapt based on feedback or changing conditions.
Development often involves frameworks that provide agent architectures, memory mechanisms, and tool-use capabilities. Tradeoffs include the complexity of managing agent state, ensuring reliable task completion, and addressing safety concerns related to autonomous action. Current research focuses on improving agent reasoning, long-term planning, and efficient tool integration.
Frontier AI labs are releasing new tools and APIs to make it easier to build agentic applications. These advancements allow developers to create software that can perceive, decide, and act autonomously to achieve user goals. This focus on agentic capabilities signals a shift towards more independent and capable AI systems.
- Designing failover across OpenAI model providersOpenAI · OpenAI Developers Blog ·
- Gemini 2.5 FlashGoogle · Gemini Models ·
- Using skills to accelerate OSS maintenanceOpenAI · OpenAI Developers Blog ·
- New tools and features in the Responses APIOpenAI · OpenAI News ·
- New tools for building agentsOpenAI · OpenAI News ·
- Google Gemini
- Google Gemini is developing new models like Gemini 2.5 Flash that can power demanding AI tasks, likely including agentic applications.
- OpenAI ChatGPT
- OpenAI is actively releasing new tools and APIs specifically designed to simplify the development of AI agents and agentic applications.
- AI assistants
- While AI assistants can perform tasks, agentic applications imply
- Chatbots
- Chatbots primarily focus on conversational interaction, whereas agenti
- Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
- RPA automates repetitive, rule-based tasks, wh
The concept of AI agents has roots in early AI research, but the term 'agentic applications' has gained prominence with the recent advancements in large language models and their ability to perform complex reasoning and tool use.
Use a chatbot interface like ChatGPT and ask it to perform a multi-step task that requires accessing external information or tools. For example, ask it to 'find the current weather in London and then suggest three indoor activities based on that weather.' Observe how it attempts to break down the request and use its capabilities to fulfill it.
The Playbook: reusable how-tos, prompts, configs and tips pulled out of the news.
- WorkflowBuild an AI agent evaluation pipeline in one hourCompress weeks of AI agent testing into one hour using open-source tools and automated pipelines. · 60 min
- HeuristicAI agents need time-awareness for runtime controlAI agents require a sense of time to predict, estimate, and control their own actions and execution duration. · 5 min
- Anti-patternUsing prototype defaults for production AI agent architectureDon't let prototype settings for AI models and prompts become production defaults; they are not optimized for scale or cost. · 60 min
- Cost tipLeverage prompt caching to reduce AI agent token costsReuse previously processed prompt prefixes to avoid reprocessing and save on token costs for agents. · 30 min
- HeuristicComposable controls for agent autonomy and safetyUse composable controls that perform single jobs, enabling agents to run with autonomy at appropriate safety levels. · 10 min
Questions people ask
- What makes an application 'agentic'?
- An application is considered agentic if it uses AI agents that can independently plan, reason, and execute a series of actions to achieve a goal, rather than just responding to direct commands.
- How are agentic applications different from simple AI tools?
- Simple AI tools perform a single function when prompted, like generating text or an image. Agentic applications orchestrate multiple actions, potentially using various tools, to complete a larger, more complex task autonomously.
First seen on Subvolts Mar 11, 2025. Updated Oct 17, 2026. Written by an AI model from the items above and reviewed against them weekly; report an error.