What it is
An autonomous AI system that can perceive its environment, make decisions, and take actions to achieve specific goals - without constant human direction.
Why it matters
AI agents go beyond chatbots. While a chatbot answers questions, an agent can research leads, draft proposals, schedule meetings, update records, and escalate issues - all on its own. They're the workforce multiplier businesses have been waiting for.
Key difference from chatbots
"Here's the answer to your question"
"I researched the prospect, drafted the email, scheduled the follow-up, and updated Salesforce"
Related terms
Agentforce
Salesforce's AI agent platform that enables businesses to build, customize, and deploy autonomous AI agents across sales, service, marketing, and commerce.
Agentic AI
AI systems designed to take autonomous action, not just generate content or answer questions. The shift from "AI that talks" to "AI that does."
LLM (Large Language Model)
The AI technology behind ChatGPT, Claude, and the intelligence in Agentforce. Trained on massive amounts of text to understand and generate human language.