AI Agents — A High-Level Overview
A field guide to understanding how agents reason, plan and work.
AI agents are software systems that can interpret a goal, decide on a sequence of actions and use tools to move work forward. The most useful way to understand them is not as magic, but as carefully designed loops of context, reasoning and action.
For product teams, the question is not simply where to add an agent. It is where a person needs momentum: a repeated research task, a complex handoff, or a decision that needs clear evidence. Good agent experiences make the boundaries visible and keep people in control.
As agents become part of everyday products, the UX work becomes even more important. Explain what is happening, show the source of an answer, make reversal easy, and design the waiting state with as much care as the result.