AI Agents Clearly Explained

What are AI agents, anyway? You can't go far on the internet without seeing a company advertising their new "agentic" features. The term is used so often, but what does it actually mean? In this video, I demystify the idea of agents by looking at various definitions and extracting the common themes. I deconstruct agents (as they are in 2026) and then rebuild the concept based on what they actually do. By the end, you'll no longer be asking the question, "What are agents?" You'll have a holistic understanding of AI agents and the activities they perform. 00:11 AI Agents on the Internet 00:38 A Starting Point: Agents Outside of Tech 01:41 Formal Definition from Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach 02:48 Definition of AI Agents from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google 05:00 Agent as a Buzzword 05:26 Common Threads from Agent Definitions 06:45 What Agents Actually Do 10:38 Agentic Capabilities as a Software Wrapper 12:07 What Agents Don't Do (in 2026) 14:01 Wrap-up: Agent is Many Things Thanks for watching my videos! If you enjoyed this, please subscribe, leave a comment, & connect with me on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/markhennings