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Building & Product

What actually is an AI agent, in plain language?

An AI agent is software that uses an AI model as its brain to pursue a goal: it plans the steps, uses tools (your email, browser, spreadsheets, code, APIs), checks its own work, and keeps going until the job is done. A chatbot answers you; an agent acts for you. Think of it as a tireless junior teammate that can read, click, write and call other software, but still needs clear instructions and supervision.

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18 resources.

Podcast

What Is an AI Agent?

a16z (Guido Appenzeller, Matt Bornstein, Yoko Li) May 2025

Three infra investors argue out the definition honestly, including where the hype ends.

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More in AI Agents

Also in Starting Up

The same ground, over in Build the product, our Starting Up track.

What actually counts as an MVP, and what's the smallest one I can get away with? 20 → Which no-code tool should I use to build my first product? 20 →
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