Assistants, Tools, and Agents
Know when a chatbot becomes an agentic workflow.
What you will learn
- Explain assistants, tools, and agents in clear language.
- Recognise where this concept appears in real work.
- Apply the idea and check the result using a practical activity.
The concept
An assistant answers or drafts. A tool-using assistant can call external systems. An agent plans steps, uses tools, observes results, and adapts. More autonomy adds power and risk.
In plain English
A chatbot talks. A tool-using bot can press buttons. An agent can make a plan, press buttons, see what happened, and try the next step.
Work example
An agent might research competitors, update a CRM field, draft a brief, and ask for approval before sending.
Try it yourself
Activity
Pick one workflow and mark which steps can be autonomous and which require approval.
Knowledge check
Why do agentic workflows need stronger guardrails?
- A.They are always slower
- B.They can take multi-step actions, so mistakes can compound
- C.They cannot use tools
- D.They only produce images
Show answer
B. They can take multi-step actions, so mistakes can compound
Autonomous steps can multiply impact, so permissions and review matter.