We’re living in the age of AI, and it’s evolving quickly. Enter Agentic AI: a new breed of artificial intelligence that promises to take us from passive chatbots to active, autonomous systems. But what exactly are agentic apps, and how are they different from something like ChatGPT?

What Are Agentic Apps?

Agentic apps are essentially AI systems that act autonomously, meaning they can go off and complete tasks without needing you to hold their hand every step of the way. Think of them as personal assistants on steroids. Unlike ChatGPT, which waits for you to type in a prompt before responding, agentic AI is proactive. It can pursue open-ended, loosely defined goals, make long-term plans, and use external tools to complete tasks.

For instance, imagine you need to book a flight for your next trip. Normally, you’d manually search for flights, compare prices, and input your payment details. But an AI agent could handle everything for you. It would scan your calendar to see when and where you're traveling, remember your seating preferences, research flight options, and even handle the booking—all without you lifting a finger.

That’s what makes agentic AI special: it doesn’t just respond—it acts.

Agentic Workflows

So, how does this magic happen? Well, think of agentic AI as having four key components: the task plan, the command box, the workspace, and memory.

First, the AI gets a task—whether that's from a user input or an overarching goal it's designed to achieve. This could be anything from "find me the best travel deals" to "optimize my company's sales outreach." Once it understands the task, the AI creates a plan of action. It breaks the task down into smaller, actionable steps, like checking your email, gathering relevant information, or scouring the web for answers.

The command / chat box is where users give specific instructions, but here’s the twist: once the AI has a command, it doesn’t need you to keep giving it more. The workspace is where the AI does its thing—for instance using APIs to book tickets. Finally, memory: the AI remembers past interactions and decisions, so it gets better over time, learning from previous tasks to improve future outcomes.

Structure (Technical)

Let’s break down how agentic AI apps are structured from a technical perspective. This is where the magic behind the curtain happens, giving the AI the power to act independently and efficiently.

1) Chatbox + Workspace

The chatbox is where you, the user, interact with the AI. You give it a command or lay out a goal, and this becomes the jumping-off point for the agent to start its work. The workspace is the playground for the AI—it’s where it generates outputs based on the information you’ve fed it. If you tell it to book a trip, it will do all the research and find flights within this workspace, showing you what it’s doing in real-time.

2) Task List

Every agentic app starts with a plan of action, typically shown as a "task list" or "plan." Once you give the AI a command, it doesn’t just dive in blindly. Instead, it generates a sequence of steps it plans to take to complete your goal. This list is where you, as the user, can review what it’s about to do and make tweaks or approve it. For example, if you’re having the agent plan your travel, the task list might include steps like searching for flights, checking your email for confirmation, and booking hotels. Once you’ve approved the plan, the agent executes it on autopilot.

3) Tools

Agentic AIs don’t work in isolation—they use tools to get the job done. These tools could be anything from browsing the web to accessing specific software. For a travel agent AI, this could mean using booking platforms like Google Flights or Booking.com. In the case of our Selix AI, the tools include sales copies, pulling prospect data, web research or even setting up email domains to launch outreach campaigns. These tools are what enable the AI to complete complex tasks efficiently and autonomously.

4) Advanced Capabilities

Rewinds

One of the cool features of agentic AIs is the ability to "rewind." Let’s say your travel agent is on the last step to book your flight, but then you decide you want to change the destination. The AI can go back to that step and refresh its actions to accommodate the new info, saving you from starting over from scratch.

Memory

Agentic AIs are not just task executors—they also have memory. They learn from past interactions and can use that context cues. For instance, if your travel agent knows you prefer to fly on Saturdays, it will remember that for future searches, helping it find better results faster.

Status

Most AI agents don’t execute everything instantly—they may work on tasks in the background. As a result, they keep you updated with the status of each task and send reminders when it’s time for you to check back in or when a task is complete. So, you don’t need to hover over the AI; just log off and come back when it’s done.

RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation)

RAG is like giving the AI a shortcut. Instead of starting from scratch each time, the AI retrieves relevant past examples or information and builds on that to generate its output. For instance, imagine you frequently travel to various destinations. The AI might pull up past itineraries or successful trip suggestions and put into context window (retrieval augmented) to help it craft a new travel plan (generation). So, if you want to book a trip, it could say, “Based on your previous trips, how about a flight to Cancun on Saturday?” This way, the AI combines what it knows from the past with new requests, making its suggestions more relevant and tailored to your preferences.

The Growth of Agentic AI

The potential here is massive, and it’s why the world is paying attention. Start-ups like Humans.AI are calling agentic AI a “transformative era.” The CEO of Humanic AI went as far as to say, “We now live in an agentic economy.” It’s not just start-ups making noise—industry giants are diving in too. Salesforce, a leader in cloud computing, recently launched an agentic product “Agentforce” that allows customers to create custom autonomous AI agents.

According to Gartner, by 2025, a whopping 75% of B2B sales teams will use AI agents to automate routine tasks. These agents can handle time-consuming jobs, like lead generation or scheduling follow-ups, freeing up salespeople to focus on closing deals and building relationships. Experts like Andrew Ng are hyped, saying AI agent workflows could drive more progress than next-gen foundation models, and David Sacks predicts that autonomous agents will soon start to use tools and websites to act more human-like in the tasks they perform.

This excitement is reflected in the funding pouring into the space. Cognition Labs, creators of Devin AI, raised $175 million, while Hippocratic AI secured $500 million for healthcare-specific AI agents. Even smaller players like Agency, which raised $2.6 million, and giant companies like Moveworks, valued at $4.73 billion, are getting in on the action.

Sources: https://www.salesforce.com/agentforce/, https://aimresearch.co/ai-startups/agentic-ai-is-here-and-these-8-startups-are-leading-the-way-in-2024, https://www.instagram.com/artificialintelligenceee/reel/DABQ9dxSGnP/

Selix AI: Agentic Prospecting

At SellScale, we help companies grow with AGI. Selix is our Agentic Prospecting Agent that helps you begin your outreach easily. If you’re in sales, you know the grind of prospecting—building lists, crafting outreach messages, and hitting send a million times. Selix AI changes the game by being your end-to-end sales outreach buddy.

Here’s how it works: you give Selix your campaign’s objective—like what angle you want to push or what type of campaign you want to create—and the AI takes care of the rest. It builds lists, drafts copies, and even tracks your outreach efforts. It’s like having a sales assistant who works 24/7 without needing coffee breaks. All you do is hand over the idea, and Selix executes.

Conclusion

The future is here, and it's agentic. AI agents are evolving beyond passive responses into systems that can actively complete tasks and drive efficiency across industries. The question is, how will you use this magic to your advantage?

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Agents are going to change the future. If you’re interested in learning more about how to build your agent, reach out to us via our demo form.

In addition, check out our advanced agentic prospecting buddy if you’re handling GTM!