AI·Mar 18, 2026·1 min read
What is an LLM agent, really?
'Agent' is the word of the moment. Here's a plain-English definition and where they actually earn their keep.
An LLM agent is a model that can take actions — call tools, query data, and make decisions toward a goal — not just generate text. The interesting part is everything around the model.
Where agents earn their keep
- Multi-step workflows that span several tools
- Customer and internal support that resolves, not just answers
- Research and synthesis over large knowledge bases
The teams that win with agents pair them with strong guardrails, human-in-the-loop where it matters, and tracing so you can see exactly what the agent did and why.