Lesson 1 · 9 min
What an AI agent actually is — and what isn't
Most "AI agents" in production are 2-step pipelines. Real agents loop, decide, and act. Knowing the difference saves you weeks.
The honest definition
An AI agent is an LLM in a loop that:
- Decides what to do next based on the current state.
- Takes an action — usually a tool call.
- Observes the result.
- Repeats until it decides it's done.
The loop is the load-bearing part. Without it, you have a workflow — a sequence of LLM calls a developer wired up — not an agent.