AI agent
An AI agent is software that sets goals, plans steps, and acts autonomously to achieve them — without continuous human oversight.
Also known as: agentic AI, autonomous AI
An AI agent is a system that can set goals, plan steps, and act to achieve those goals — without waiting for human instruction between each step. The agent can read documents, search databases, call APIs, and make decisions based on rules and AI models. It differs from a chatbot in that it acts, not just answers. By 2026 agents are mature enough to handle scoped workflows autonomously — typically email sorting, invoice handling, or document routing — with explicit limits and a full action log.
In Norwegian context
Norwegian businesses deploy AI agents with explicit limits on what the agent can do, GDPR-compliant data handling, and full logging — in line with Datatilsynet's guidance for automated decisions.
Read more in the in-depth article on this topic.
Related terms
- AI integration — AI integration is the process of wiring language models, RAG, or predictive models directly into a business's existing systems and workflows.
- RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) — RAG is a technique where a language model answers based on the business's own documents — instead of only its general training.
- LLM (Large Language Model) — An LLM is a large language model trained on enormous text volumes that can generate, summarise, and analyse text in a human-like way.