BusinessAugust 17, 2026

agentic

ay-JEN-tik

Definition

Relating to or describing AI systems that are designed to perform complex, multi-step tasks autonomously by reasoning and taking action, rather than simply responding to queries.

Etymology

Derived from the noun 'agent' (from Latin 'agens', meaning 'doing' or 'acting'), the suffix '-ic' creates an adjective indicating the quality of having the capacity to act or exert influence.

In the news

The article uses the term to describe AI workflows that require reasoning and self-questioning, which are significantly more expensive to run than basic, non-agentic chatbots.

Gartner Predicts AI Inference Costs Per Agentic Workflow Will Increase More Than Fivefold Through 2028

Read the full article ↗

Gartner

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