What is agentic AI?

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Agentic AI takes initiative, makes decisions, and carries out multi-step tasks to achieve specific outcomes, often with minimal human intervention. Unlike assistive AI, which simply responds to commands or generates content on request, agentic AI can act on its own, adapt to new information, and coordinate outcomes across different channels.

The main purpose of agentic AI is to take on complex responsibilities that would otherwise require substantial human effort. It not only answers questions, but also plans, executes, and refines strategies to support your goals. 

Agentic AI can do everything from planning marketing strategies and personalizing campaign content to answering common customer questions and resolving customer service tickets. When they’re trained on real-time data, AI agents learn from every interaction and adapt their actions based on what works best.

What does agentic AI do?

Agentic AI helps businesses operate more efficiently and deliver better customer experiences by taking on tasks that are more advanced than traditional automation. Here’s what agentic AI does:

  • Does more than one thing: Agentic AI handles multi-step processes, not just single tasks.
  • Takes action proactively: Agentic AI anticipates what needs to get done and acts on it, rather than waiting for a prompt.
  • Adapts in real time: Agentic AI learns from results, updates its approach, and keeps improving to stay aligned with your goals.
  • Frees up human teams: Agentic AI takes on repetitive, time-consuming work so people can focus on strategy, creativity, and building relationships.
  • Keeps humans in the loop: When you want it to, agentic AI keeps you in control. You implement the guardrails, with the flexibility to review, edit, or override any action the AI takes.

Key features of agentic AI

Agentic AI has several key building blocks that make autonomous, goal-driven action possible. Some of those features include:

  • Goal orientation: Agentic AI ties every action to a clear objective—for example, launching a campaign, resolving a support request, or nurturing a customer relationship.
  • Autonomous execution: Agentic AI executes complex tasks end to end, from planning to launch to follow-up, without constant human oversight.
  • Proactive decision-making: Agentic AI identifies opportunities or risks and acts before being asked.
  • Personalization at scale: In marketing and customer service, agentic AI uses real-time customer data, preferences, and behaviors to tailor every message, offer, or interaction to the individual customer.
  • Omnichannel coordination: Agentic AI orchestrates outreach across email, SMS, WhatsApp, web chat, customer support, and more to keep marketing experiences consistent.

Benefits of agentic AI

Agentic AI supports more efficient operations and stronger customer experiences. Here are a few of the benefits it brings to the table:

  • Faster execution: Because AI plans and develops campaigns, automations, and support responses on its own, it means your brand reacts to trends and opportunities in the moment, not after the moment’s passed.
  • Reduced manual workload: Agentic AI handles not only repetitive, low-value tasks, but more complex ones as well, opening up time teams can use to focus on high-impact work.
  • Always-on support and marketing: Agentic AI works around the clock, providing instant responses, recommendations, and resolutions even when teams are offline.
  • Agility and adaptability: As customer needs or business goals change, agentic AI quickly adjusts strategies and tactics to stay relevant and effective.

Agentic AI helps turn everyday operations into a practical advantage by acting on your goals and improving with every interaction. Ready to see what agentic AI can do for your business? Get started with Klaviyo AI (K:AI) Marketing Agent and Customer Agent* today.

*K:AI agents are currently available in English. Additional languages will be available in 2026.