Move over generative AI, the latest tech buzzword is here: agentic AI. The Harvard Business Review is one of many outlets diving into the term as the industry looks for the latest trends in 2025. Agentic AI isn’t just a trend though. Just as generative AI caught many business professionals off guard in 2022 with the launch of ChatGPT and then became a normal working tool—more autonomous AI systems will develop as users become comfortable with the technology overall.
What is agentic AI?
According to Google, we’re now in the “agentic era.” Agentic AI refers to the idea of artificial intelligence systems that need fewer rules and human guidance to perform tasks. Agentic AI collects data from inputs like sensors, cameras, microphones, or other AI models—and then uses this data to make a decision. Basic systems will be rule-based, while more complex systems will utilize deep learning methods that get “smarter” over time.
Two top-of-mind examples of agentic AI are self-driving cars and robot vacuums. Both machines gather input from sensors and cameras and make decisions on what to do either through basic rules or more advanced learning systems.
How is agentic AI different from generative AI?
Generative AI’s main feature is creating content, like text, video, and images, from human prompts. It requires human input and correction in a back-and-forth conversation experience. Agentic AI is focused on taking action and autonomous decision making.
These two technologies will benefit users and businesses alike as they come together to empower complex AI systems. GenAI systems that generate outputs can utilize agentic AI systems to then automate where this content goes and for what. Integrated systems of the future will use both technologies to assist workflows and automate repeatable tasks. A near-term, futuristic example of this is a universal research assistant who can take inputs about your preferences and make decisions on your behalf (help you research products to buy and then buy the product you prefer).
And, just recently, OpenAI announced new agentic features for its ChatGPT tool. We might not be at a superintelligence AI takeover yet, but the foundational technology for beyond-human intelligent tools is coming together.
5 key factors of agentic AI
Want to learn more? Here are five main features of agentic AI, which is still in the early development stages for most business use cases:
1. Focused on making decisions
An agentic AI model receives information and makes decisions based on this information, taking action on behalf of humans. This action can be physical (steering an autonomous vehicle) or digital (sending an alert). A customer service chatbot utilizing this technology can submit claims based on information provided by a customer.
2. More reliable than other models
The Harvard Business Review claims agentic AI will be more reliable than generative AI, eliminating those strange hallucinations and false claims that many LLMs generate. Guardrails could also be set up to limit the kinds of autonomous actions a model could make. Like in our customer service chatbox example, the AI assistant could submit claims up to a certain dollar amount and any high-risk claims could go into a human process for approval.
3. Influence real-time decision making
Agentic AI has the potential to revolutionize in-the-moment decision making, especially for sectors like manufacturing and healthcare. Smart factories could take the next step of having their systems automatically shut down or trigger maintenance visits when sensor levels reach a certain threshold, sending alerts or generating reports automatically about the incident.
Similar to manufacturing, hospitals can benefit greatly from autonomous care and reporting, based on monitored patient levels. NUHS, a leader in AI-driven hospital operations, is already innovating with autonomous robots and AI models for better diagnostic screening.
4. Boost efficiency and streamline operations
Just like other AI tools, agentic AI benefits people most with increased efficiency and smoother operations, leading to saved time, resources, and costs. An agentic AI model monitoring sensors and cameras could take action 24/7, keeping equipment safe and running optimally while the humans in the factory can focus on more strategic planning of production cycles.
5. Still requires human oversight and governance
Like with any technology, it’s better with human-in-the-loop measures. AI is at its best when it augments human intelligence, not replaces it. And with growing governance concerns with AI tools, humans are needed to monitor models and fine-tune outcomes.
Explore cutting-edge tech with Spotfire
At Spotfire, we’re excited to see how these innovations with agentic AI continue to develop. Here are 4 ways AI capabilities in Spotfire implement agentic principles:
- Proactive data recommendations: Agentic AI thrives on identifying patterns and offering insights autonomously. Spotfire embodies this with its AI-driven data wrangling capabilities, which provide contextual recommendations for data transformation, cleansing, and enrichment.
- Automated visualizations and insights: Spotfire integrates agentic AI principles by automatically suggesting the best visualizations tailored to your data type and interactions.
- Generative AI for enhanced decision-making: Spotfire leverages generative AI to empower engineers with natural language extensions— enabling users to interact with their data using conversational prompts. Receive precise, actionable insights by conversing with your data in the Spotfire Copilot extension.
- Scaling collaborative intelligence: Agentic AI emphasizes collaboration between humans and AI. The Spotfire platform’s collaborative features align with this by enabling seamless collaboration between engineers and data scientists, ensuring operational and strategic alignment.
Many of our top customers in energy and manufacturing already use these capabilities in Spotfire to boost performance, optimize operations, and lower costs—so the possibilities really are limitless as we all begin to add agentic AI and automation to our business systems.
Until your business is ready for the agentic era, you can discover how Spotfire is already streamlining operations for greater efficiency with AI-driven capabilities.