What is it?

Agentic AI is an artificial intelligence system that can autonomously plan, perform tasks and make decisions on behalf of people.

Not to be confused with: AI agents or generative AI

An AI agent is a single software program that can independently complete a specific individual task. Agentic AI refers to a coordinated system of multiple agents that can behave and act autonomously.

Generative AI produces content based on prompts.

Why does this matter?

AI is increasingly part of everyday life. Organisations are using AI agents to access information and carry out tasks as part of workflows. Agentic commerce – where AI agents conduct tasks on behalf of a shopper – is changing how brands approach their online strategies.

What does it mean for research?

In market research, brands, technology companies and insights agencies are using agentic AI systems to execute parts of the research process. For example, agentic AI can conduct studies and analyse results. Agentic AI systems can also connect insights held by organisations and help to predict outcomes based on data analysis.

Louisa Livingston, chair of the MRS Advanced Insights and Analytics Council, said: “Agentic AI is an important step on from the AI tools many teams are already experimenting with. It has the potential to do more than simply respond to prompts – it can progress tasks, connect sources of insight and support more continuous, responsive decision-making. That offers clear advantages in speed and efficiency, but the real value will come from how it strengthens the role of researchers, not sidelines them.

“The value of strategic research still lies in interpretation, commercial understanding and knowing which questions matter most and the research industry should harness the power of agents to develop this beyond where we are today.”

• The next part of the series will look at digital twins.