The business world has been captivated by what’s been called ‘Generative AI’ for the last couple of years: the power to write emails, code, and generate images with a machine. However, with the next wave of digital transformation, a new term has emerged: Agentic AI.
If you’ve been using ChatGPT or any other LLM (Large Language Models) to generate content, you’re only just getting started. Agentic AI is a paradigm shift from passive tools that respond to your prompts to active agents that can bring about goals.
What is Agentic AI?
“Agentic” is agency, which means that one is able to move in a way that allows him or her to accomplish a specific predetermined objective.
Imagine an intelligent librarian who is very smart. Ask it a question, and it returns with awesome information and an awesome answer. The librarian, however, doesn’t go so far. Unless you give it the specific instructions to do all of these steps, it will not go to the shelf, pull the book, photocopy the page, and mail it to your client.
By contrast, an AI Agent is similar to a junior assistant. You tell the assistant to research the five industry trends and then write a client presentation around them, but the assistant doesn’t just write the words, it does all of that for you: It browses the web, synthesizes, opens your presentation software and writes the slides.
The execution gap is where LLM and Agentic AI diverge.Whereas LLM and Agentic AI differ is in their execution.
The main distinction between AI tools that we use today and Agentic AI is that Agentic AI is capable of execution.
The “brains” are called Large Language Models (LLMs). They are highly skilled at interpreting language and paring down text and writing a response. They are reactive, that is, they respond to a stimulus.
These are the “hands”: Agentic Systems. They are embedded inside of tools that enable action—such as APIs, email clients, CRMs and file storage—which use the LLM as an engine. They’re proactive, and they can handle several steps at once on each different platform without having to press enter between each step.
Why Small Businesses Should Care
The “Agentic” change is beneficial for digital marketers and small business owners in three main ways:
1. From “Time-Sucking” to “Time-Saving”.
Most business owners are spending hours switching between a CRM, CMS, and email inbox.Too many business owners are “context switching” between a CRM, CMS and an email inbox. Agentic AI can overcome these silos. For example, if a customer support ticket arrives through your system, an AI agent can use the ticket’s relevant content to look through your knowledge base and find the policy, generating (or sending!) a customised response while doing so and updating your internal database.
2. Scalability Without Overhead
When a business grows, there will be more people working to handle more of the “busy work. Agentic AI empowers your current team to achieve more, with less. Agents can manage repetitive, rule-based tasks that are complex, such as new client onboarding or social media scheduling, and scale your output without linearly scaling up your costs.
3. Proactive Problem Solving
Unlike normal software, Agentic AI can be programmed to watch your surroundings. Now think of an agent that monitors your inventory and/or website performance. When there is potential problem it doesn’t only alert you, it can analyze the cause of the problem, suggest a solution, and request “thumbs up” to implement the solution.
How to Get Started
Not a software programmer can skip from coding to getting started with agentic workflows in your business.
Determine “Stall Points” which is a term used to refer to the copying and pasting of data between two or more applications in your business. These are the ideal candidates to be automated.
Start with “Human-in-the-Loop”: Don’t make agents autonomous right away.
The first thing to do is have the agent make the first draft and show it to you for final approval. This way you can keep an eye on how it makes its decisions and help it understand your business environment.
Embrace Low-Code Tools: Platforms like LangChain, CrewAI, or even basic automation integrations, such as Zapier’s AI capabilities, are making it more convenient than ever to create an agent without starting from scratch.
The future is Autonomous
The days of AI being a “cool gadget” are behind us and a future of digital workers is ahead. In the coming years, the most successful businesses will not be the ones that produce more blog posts automatically using AI, but the ones that create agentic workflows to deal with the back-end complexity of their businesses.
With Agentic AI, you’re not just getting a new tool, but a new assistant who never takes a break, never forgets, and always works to help your business succeed in the most effective manner possible. Switching over may seem like a daunting task, but the benefits of the competition for those who learn how to do it early will be undeniable.
