AI Agents - Really?

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gm, fellow innovators and AI enthusiasts! Buckle up as we dive deep into one of the hottest topics in the AI world right now—AI Agents. Whether you're sipping coffee or navigating your morning inbox rush, this is your booster shot of tech and innovation for the week.

The hot potato right now: “AI Agents”

When we talk about trends and evolution in tech, it's hard to miss the hype around AI agents. But if you're wondering what exactly an AI agent is, you're not alone. There is quite some fuzz out there and everyone seems to have their own definition.

Let’s make it simple for now: imagine a digital colleague to whom you give a task, he takes care of it independently and comes back with a result.

Ok, if the result is actually what you were looking for, is another story.

The Evolution of AI Agents: A Simple Guide to Tomorrow's Technology

Remember when computers could only follow exact instructions, like a cook strictly following a recipe? That's how AI used to work.

Today's AI agents are dramatically different – they're more like experienced problem-solvers who can figure things out on their own.

Think about the last time you had to research something before a meeting, organize your emails, or analyze customer feedback. These tasks typically take hours of focused work.

AI is already helping people complete these tasks in minutes. Just talk to your favorite tool like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, you name it. But in order to get an output that you can actually use, you need to know how to use the tools, write good prompts, give context, etc …

ChatGPT Tasks let’s you actually define a task that is then worked on in the background and the outcome delivered to you on time. Thats a bold step towards agentic AI.

Here comes the AI Agent. It’s the next stage of evolution.

For example, when a sales representative needs to learn about a potential client, AI agents can quickly gather and summarize key information from various sources, helping the representative prepare for meetings more efficiently - simply at the touch of a button or a quick voice command.

Everything in between you asking and your digital colleague delivering is done by the AI agent itself. They can break the task down into steps and adapt their approach, make decisions and learn with every new task. It’s just like how a skilled professional would tackle a new project at work.

Different AI agents could even work together. Check out Hubspot CEO Dharmesh Shah's vision of collaborating AI Agents if you want to dive deeper: The Future Of AI Agents With Dharmesh Shah

Specialized AI Agents: Experts in their fields

Most AI agents are designed to excel in specific tasks, industries, or areas. These specialized agents (called "vertical AI agents") are like consultants who have spent years mastering one particular field.

For example back at HubSpot, a company that helps businesses manage their customer relationships, we see highly specialized AI agents for different tasks:

• The Company Research Agent can quickly analyze a potential customer's business, gathering information that would typically take hours to collect manually

• The Conversion Rate Optimizer Agent helps identify why website visitors aren't becoming customers and suggests specific improvements

More examples on Assistants and Agents:

• In the healthcare industry, AI agents such as IBM's Watson are transforming how data is managed, providing doctors with actionable insights and personalized treatment plans based on vast databases of medical records, research papers, and clinical trial data (IBM).

• Or the new ChatGPT model 4b-micro that suggested protein redesigns that were way more effective than the ones researchers designed before (Techcrunch).

• Retail sector firms, like Walmart, employ AI agents for inventory management and to make autonomous purchasing decisions, thereby streamlining operations and enhancing customer service through better availability of products (Forbes).

• At financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase, AI agents are utilized to detect fraud by autonomously monitoring transaction patterns and identifying suspicious activities as they occur, which enables real-time corrective actions (CNBC).

• Virtual Crypto agents and influencers having their own X account and crypto wallet shill memecoins or trade digital assets on their own (ex Truth Terminal)

• Agentic AI Chatbots in customer service can not only read the FAQ to you but actually autonomously solve your problem:

As you can see, defining what actually an AI agent is compared to AI assistants, AI systems, AI tools, AI automations… is not that easy. But hey, it’s the exploding trend currently, so let’s call it AI agent and dive deeper into how it can make our lives better. 😉

By the way, if you want to stay on top of everything that happens in AI and in the field of AI agents I can recommend The Rundown AI. I personally read it (and I’m a little bit proud that we have a sponsored partnership although I’m just starting out here).

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2025 - a turning point?

In my journey of exploring AI’s landscape, the delight in witnessing AI agents step onto the stage feels akin to discovering a new world, ripe with potential and anticipation.

This year we will see very exciting stuff and AI agents really stepping on the stage.

People already say that AI automation is dead. Nobody needs tools like Zapier or Make.com or lindy anymore. Soon nobody will ask ChatGPT for anything. We will all talk to our personal AI agents and let them do the stuff in the background.

While I can see a future where my Alfred will research for the best kids bike for my daughter, negotiate with AI agents of Online Shops to finally order it directly, I think we’re still going step by step.

Lot’s of people and businesses out there don’t use AI tools at all. I mean, how can you not use ChatGPT??

So there is definitely a lot of room for building innovative solutions, offering specialized AI automations or creating vertical AI agents.

And that’s exactly what we are doing on this journey.

Keep dreaming, keep building.

Wishing you a productive week,
Fabian