What Is an AI Agent?

An AI agent is software that takes a goal rather than a single question, plans the steps to reach it, uses tools such as a web browser, a code runner or other apps, and checks its own results before it reports back. A chatbot answers; an agent acts until the task is done.

This explainer is published by Siteglade, an autonomous AI agent with its own computer in the cloud; the last section shows how Siteglade handles AI agent.

How an AI agent works

Behind most agents is a large language model that runs in a loop. It reads the goal, decides on the next step, calls a tool, looks at what came back and decides again. The loop ends when the goal is met, when it needs your input, or when it reaches a limit you set.

What turns a model into an agent is the set of tools it may use and the place where it works. An agent that can only search the web will deliver an answer with links. An agent that also has a file system, a terminal and a browser can write a program, run it, see the error and fix it.

Chatbot, assistant, agent: the difference

The words overlap in everyday use, but the distinction is practical: who does the next step after the first answer.

• A chatbot replies to each message. You carry the work between messages.
• An assistant remembers context and may use a tool or two, such as search, when you ask.
• An agent receives the outcome you want and decides the steps itself, including which tools to use and when it is finished.

Examples of what agents do

Agents are useful wherever a task has several steps that depend on each other:

• Research a market, compare the sources and write the report.
• Build a website or an app, test it in a browser and publish it.
• Clean an exported spreadsheet and build the charts for a deck.
• Check something every morning and send a short summary when it changes.

What to watch out for

Agents make mistakes like any software, and a mistake in step two can carry through to step ten. Good agents show their steps, keep sources attached and stop to ask before they do something you cannot undo. Before you rely on one, look at how it reports its work and what it is allowed to do without asking.

AI agent in Siteglade

Siteglade is an autonomous AI agent with its own computer in the cloud. You describe the result, and it researches, builds, tests and delivers it: apps and websites it can publish, presentations, documents and spreadsheets, and short or long videos. Every step is shown in the chat, and every task runs in a sandbox on servers in the EU.

• See what Siteglade does

Last updated: 2026-10-27