What Is Really Going On With AI Agents?

What is an AI agent really, and what is just a chatbot with a new label? AI agents explained simply, without hype and without jargon.

Everyone is talking about AI agents and agentic AI: at conferences, in pitches, on every other landing page. In this episode of it depends, I look at what is really behind it. We clarify what an AI agent is, how it differs from a workflow, how autonomous it may be and why Gartner warns about agent washing. Then we look inside a real process: a B2B order by email that a language model reads and regular code checks. You will learn where an agent's rules live, why every agent needs an emergency exit and a golden dataset, and what you build AI agents with.

At the end, you have three questions you can use in any presentation to check whether an "agent" really is one. Ideal for anyone who wants to put AI in their company into context without being a developer.

Want to know whether and where an AI agent makes sense for you? With the Agentic Impact Check by foobar Agency, you have the blueprint for your first agent in two weeks: https://foobar.agency/en/impact-check

Sources
Simon Willison: definition of "agent" (18 September 2025): https://simonwillison.net/2025/Sep/18/agents/
Feng, McDonald, Zhang (University of Washington): Levels of Autonomy for AI Agents (2025): https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.12469
Gartner: Over 40% of Agentic AI Projects Will Be Canceled by End of 2027 (25 June 2025): https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2025-06-25-gartner-predicts-over-40-percent-of-agentic-ai-projects-will-be-canceled-by-end-of-2027
Anthropic: Building Effective Agents: https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/building-effective-agents

About it depends
it depends is your look behind the scenes of the digital economy. I am Philipp Krueger, Managing Director of foobar Agency. We build composable commerce platforms and AI agents for retailers and manufacturers. On this channel, I put into context what is really happening in eCommerce and AI.

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