Explainer · TIER_B
What is an AI agent?
Software that can take a goal, use tools, and act — not a chat window with a personality.
zFinia published 7 September 2026
An agent is software that can accept a goal, choose tools, and act in the world. A chat window with a persona is not sufficient. The economically interesting agents can call APIs, complete a 402, and leave an audit trail.
Humans still set budgets, policy and kill switches. The machine does the repetitive fetch-pay-verify loop.