What are AI agents, and how can they power your app?

To understand agents, it helps to start with how traditional AI works.

Think of a basic AI model like a brain in a jar. It can process data, give you answers, maybe even sound conversational, but it’s passive. It sits there, waiting for you to ask the right question.

AI agents, on the other hand, are like brains with a body. They don’t just wait for instructions. They actively pursue goals, make decisions, and interact with tools and environments to get things done.

In other words, they behave more like digital employees than software features. A traditional chatbot might help you reset your password. An AI agent can manage the entire process: identify the problem, look up your account, walk you through the fix, escalate it if needed, and update internal systems when it’s sorted.

They’re built to do, not just say.

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There are three key traits that set AI agents apart from standard AI models:

Agents don’t need to be micromanaged. Give them a goal; say, “help this user complete their onboarding”, and they’ll figure out how to get there. That might mean fetching data, triggering processes, or asking follow-up questions to narrow things down.

While a language model might answer questions about APIs, an agent can actually use those APIs. Think of it like the difference between a consultant and a colleague with system access - one gives advice, the other gets stuck in.

Agents can operate over time, track progress, and adapt their approach based on context. That makes them ideal for long-running processes like scheduling, reporting, or customer follow-ups.

Imagine you’re planning a holiday.

A regular chatbot might answer a few questions about flights. Maybe it’ll give you a link to some hotel deals. But then the conversation ends, you have to do the rest yourself.

Now, imagine an AI agent doing the same job. You tell it where you want to go and your budget. It searches multiple sites, checks your calendar, compares options, flags if your passport’s out of date, and books everything for you, including transport to the airport and a vegan meal on the flight. If anything changes, such as a flight delay or hotel cancellation, it proactively sorts things out and lets you know.

That’s the power of agents. They don’t just respond. They act.

AI agents are already being deployed in industries where time, precision, and user experience are business-critical.

Take Erica, Bank of America’s AI-powered virtual assistant. Since launch, she’s handled over 2 billion customer requests, helping people check balances, track spending, and even negotiate bills. But Erica’s not just answering questions, she’s coordinating across systems, remembering user preferences, and initiating actions. That’s agent territory.

Over in government, the UK’s Department for Business and Trade is exploring how AI agents could automate back-office admin for civil servants, freeing up tens of thousands of hours. In early tests, AI agents have been shown to complete routine admin tasks up to 10x faster than human staff.

And startups are getting in on the action too, using AI agents to automate customer support, analyse documents, manage supply chains, and even write sales proposals. In fact, a 2024 report found that 61% of companies using AI agents saw a noticeable increase in productivity.

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Now that we’ve covered what agents are, let’s talk about how they fit into apps specifically. If your app performs tasks that follow rules, respond to changing inputs, or interact with other systems, AI agents can bring huge benefits.

Let’s look at a few examples:

In field service apps, an AI agent could automatically assign engineers based on location, skillset, and availability, while factoring in weather conditions, traffic delays, and shift changes. It could also chase up incomplete reports, trigger safety workflows, or alert a manager if something serious occurs.

In health or wellbeing platforms, agents could guide users through symptom checks, book appointments, or monitor recovery plans, adjusting reminders based on real-time progress. They could even sync with wearables or IoT devices to intervene when something’s off.

In e-commerce, agents could act as personal shoppers, tracking price drops, recommending products based on nuanced user preferences, and handling returns - all without human intervention.

All of this results in smoother workflows, happier users, and lighter workloads for your internal teams.

AI agents are powerful, but they’re not flawless.

Security is a big one. Because agents can interact with external systems, bad actors could try to trick them into revealing sensitive data. One 2023 report found that 23% of IT professionals had seen AI systems accidentally expose private credentials or data.

That’s why responsible design and testing are so important. Agents need limits. Guardrails. Smart decision boundaries. They also need to work with humans, not replace them, especially in sensitive industries like healthcare or finance.

You’ll also want to think about transparency: users should always know when they’re dealing with an AI and have a clear path to escalate to a human when needed.

Yes, and not just because it’s trendy.

The global AI agent market is expected to reach $47.1 billion by 2030, growing at a rate of nearly 45% each year. Businesses that get in early have the chance to not only improve operations but genuinely reimagine what their products can do.

What was once the domain of sci-fi is now something you can build into your app today.

The tech is here. The tools are mature. And with the right strategy, you don’t need to be a Silicon Valley giant to use them well.

At The Distance, we help businesses turn smart ideas into powerful digital products. Whether you’re exploring AI agents for the first time or looking to upgrade an existing app with more automation, we’ll guide you through every step - from strategy to design to secure deployment.

We believe in AI that adds value, not just complexity. And we design experiences that users love, backed by systems that scale.