Agentic AI at Work
In this episode from The Addams Family Mansion we finally get to look at Agentic AI, the new type of automation fit for 2025. Or is it?
I have some somber news from Cousin Itt. He/She/Itt has yet again apprehended those two evil twins known occasionally as the Spy Twins. That is not what my wife calls them, let me assure you of that. You should all be thankful that the axe throwing was last week so that all blades are carefully out of reach. Good evening! It is Gomez here again for a second week.
The twins seem to have been engaged in a project known as Agentic AI. In fact I believe this is just simply AI. The only reason we need this new name is that Gen AI was so rudimentary in 2023 and was released before it was ready. Its wild reception shocked even OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, which just goes to show how little the experts know. [Already dissed the experts last time. They have brittle souls. And necks. Fester.]
The problem with 2023 Gen AI is that it couldn’t actually do anything. It couldn’t really create an image. All it could do was tell you what it would be doing if only it was allowed. It was the AI equivalent of a teenager. Agentic is an attempt to help it over the threshold into adulthood. [God this is awful stuff. Really. Fester.]
What we are seeing generally is that the development and performance enhancements of very large general-purpose LLMs is stalling off. Instead we are seeing all the vendors proliferate their offering, to give you the choice of the best model for the right task. The challenge there is that nobody knows which model to pick. The more there are, the worse the problem.
Imagine a future where ChatGPT or Gemini auto-selects the right model. That is either close or basically possible now. It is also easy to imagine a world where there are thousands of mini-models and the conductor of this robotic orchestra [He’s veering off. Fester.] simply selects a blend of models for the task at hand. This essentially is multi-agent AI.
The main benefit of Agentic is that it can carry out tasks for you, not just tell you how to do a task. It can book a holiday using your credit card. It can book any sort of tickets. It can write and send emails, read any responses, and reply. This really is a big step forwards and it will be a very important step in the corporate world. For the first time, genuinely autonomous AI teams look possible. The only question is: how reliable or flaky will they be, and which company will be next on the news with a catastrophic failure of their Agentic workforce?
Fester Explains
Once again, I embrace my role as Uncle Fester, not for the bald [Get. Over. It. Gomez.] and electrocuted aesthetic, but for my unwavering commitment to making the eerie world of AI a little less mysterious. Meanwhile, Gomez (our ever-dramatic, ever-passionate tech philosopher) is deep in thought, pondering the next big shift in AI.
In 2023, the world jumped on the GenAI hype, suddenly, everyone and their Thing was generating text, creating images, and pretending they were an AI expert. But just as the Addams Family never settles for the ordinary, AI is evolving too. Now, the conversation is shifting from Generative AI to Agentic AI.
So, What is Agentic AI?
If GenAI was like summoning Cousin Itt to do tricks on command, Agentic AI is like giving Lurch the ability to plan, think, and act on his own. Instead of just responding to prompts, agentic AI can take initiative, make decisions, and execute tasks without constant human input. So basically it does more and feels even more like it’s really ‘thinking’ exciting or terrifying, I’ll let you decide.
Imagine an AI that doesn’t just generate a marketing plan when you ask. It actually builds, schedules, and optimises campaigns for you. Or an AI that doesn’t just summarise emails. Instead it reads them, drafts responses, and organises your inbox before you even know you need it. It’s proactive, again almost ‘thinking’.
What should you do?
Think beyond Chatbots. It’s not just about asking AI to do something, it’s about AI taking action on your behalf. Learn how automation and workflows work so you can make the most of agentic systems.
Understand AI Agents & Autonomy because the next wave of AI tools will manage tasks independently, from handling customer service to executing financial transactions. Stay informed so you know how to keep control while letting AI do the heavy lifting, find what’s useful in your industry.
Stay skeptical (like Wednesday) because AI making decisions sounds great, but do you really want an AI agent running wild without supervision? Knowing how to guide and oversee AI tools will be the key skill moving forward.
Agentic AI isn’t just a lifeless hand waiting for commands it’s the new Thing, skittering off to complete tasks before you even ask. Whether that’s exciting or terrifying depends on how you embrace it. But one thing’s for sure: the AI world isn’t standing still, and neither should you.
Uncle Fester was played by Danielle McCarter.
