# Agentic **Domain:** Artificial Intelligence / Systems **Doc Type:** Concept Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition **Agentic** describes the degree to which a system can carry an objective through a changing sequence of actions by selecting steps, using tools, observing results, and adapting without requiring a person to specify every intermediate operation. The word names a property, not a product and not a binary status. A system can be more agentic along one dimension and less agentic along another. It may choose tools freely while remaining unable to spend money; persist for weeks while requiring approval before every message; or coordinate several workers while operating inside a narrow, fixed objective. ## Dimensions of Agentic Capacity - **initiative:** whether work begins only from a prompt or also from schedules, events, and standing responsibilities; - **planning:** whether the system follows a fixed path or constructs and revises one; - **tool discretion:** whether tools are selected by code, by the model, or by both; - **persistence:** whether state and work survive beyond one session; - **environmental reach:** whether the system only produces text or can change software and real-world state; - **recovery:** whether it can detect failure, revise, retry, or escalate; - **delegated authority:** which actions it may take without renewed permission; - **coordination:** whether it can divide work among other agents or people. These dimensions prevent “agentic” from becoming a vague synonym for advanced. The relevant question is always: **agentic in what way, inside which boundary, under whose authority?** ## Distinctions - **Generative** concerns producing content; **agentic** concerns pursuing an objective through action. - **Automated** means a process runs without manual execution; **agentic** means the system can choose or revise the process. - **Autonomous** emphasizes independence; **agentic** can include substantial initiative inside strict human approval boundaries. - An [[wiki/AI Agent|AI agent]] is an actor; [[wiki/Agentic AI|agentic AI]] is the system family; **agentic** is the property they exhibit. ## Relationships [[wiki/Agentic AI|Agentic AI]] · [[wiki/AI Agent|AI Agent]] · [[wiki/Agency|Agency]] · [[wiki/Agentic Workflow|Agentic Workflow]] · [[wiki/Agentic Memory|Agentic Memory]] · [[wiki/Operational Autonomy|Operational Autonomy]] · [[wiki/Approval Architecture|Approval Architecture]] ## Sources / Provenance - [Anthropic — Building effective agents](https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/building-effective-agents) - [Meta — What is agentic AI?](https://ai.meta.com/learn/agentic-ai/what-is-agentic-ai/) - [[wired/Wired About the Age of Agentic Empowerment|Wired About the Age of Agentic Empowerment]] **As of:** 2026-09-28