This first episode on a 2 part series analyzes how GenAI has evolved to deliver automation through AI Agents and Agentic AI. It highlights the differences between both of them citing many sources from IBM, Anthropic McKinsey and Gartner amongst others as well as their best use cases and differences and also mentioning some of the risks.

1. Generative AI (GenAI)

Generative AI refers to reactive systems that wait for user input, typically a prompt, to generate content1. Their job is to generate some kind of content based on what was provided in the prompt.

2. AI Agents

AI Agents are typically built to do specific tasks5. They are designed to help users with actions like answering questions, organizing a calendar, or managing an email inbox. Think of them as virtual helpers that do exactly what you tell them to do, without thinking for themselves. They are great at automating simple, repetitive tasks but don't have the autonomy or decision-making abilities that Agentic AI does

3. Agentic AI

Agentic AI is a type of AI that is all about autonomy16. It refers to AI systems that possess the capacity to make autonomous decisions and take actions to achieve specific goals with limited or no direct human intervention17.... The term "agentic" refers to these models' agency, or, their capacity to act independently and purposefully18.

Unlike AI Agents built for specific tasks, Agentic AI can make decisions, take actions, and even learn on its own to achieve specific goals16. They are proactive systems,