Understanding AI Agents

What Are AI Agents?

AI chatbots like ChatGPT have become useful assistants—helping with research, writing emails, answering queries, or generating content. While useful, their capabilities are limited to generating text or image-based responses; they can't directly take actions or carry out tasks.

AI agents extend this functionality by actively making decisions, autonomously performing multi-step tasks, and directly interacting with other software tools without constant human oversight.  

While a chatbot might suggest replies to emails, an AI agent can potentially draft the reply, send it, file it within a CRM system, and even schedule follow-up meetings automatically—without needing ongoing human intervention.

Although there’s plenty of excitement around AI agents, the technology remains in its early stages. Practical workplace integration is currently limited and requires careful consideration. Below, we explore the realistic strengths and limitations of AI agents, along with critical points your organisation should consider before adopting them.

Practical Uses of AI Agents

Below are several practical applications of AI agents that could make their adoption valuable in your workplace. However, depending on the sensitivity of the data your organisation handles, extreme care, robust security measures, and strong oversight are necessary during implementation—more on that below.

Automating Customer Service:
Agents can independently manage routine customer requests such as password resets, appointment scheduling, or simple support queries. This ideally frees up customer support teams to handle more complex or sensitive customer issues.

Document Processing and Data Entry:
Agents can read, categorise, and extract key information from incoming documents (like invoices or receipts), directly inputting that information into accounting or ERP systems.  

Internal Scheduling and Calendar Management:
An AI agent can automatically schedule meetings, coordinate calendars, and book rooms based on employee availability and preferences—hopefully saving time typically spent on administration and planning.

HR Onboarding and Offboarding:
Agents can autonomously manage onboarding procedures, including assigning software access, sending welcome materials, and scheduling initial meetings. They can also handle offboarding tasks, ensuring timely removal of access and record-keeping.

Privacy and Security Considerations

Given their ability to autonomously handle and process data, AI agents often deal with sensitive or personal information. The classic example of how this can go wrong is unintentionally granting unrestricted access to sensitive company data—such as payroll information—to users who shouldn’t have it. Incidents like this highlight why it's crucial to correctly set up AI agents with precise permissions and strict access restrictions. If not implemented properly, there's a risk that confidential information may become broadly accessible, potentially leading to security breaches or compliance violations.

To avoid these pitfalls, organisations should have clear AI usage policies in place that define acceptable use cases, data handling procedures, and robust security protocols. Using anonymised or de-identified data wherever possible further reduces risk, especially in heavily regulated sectors like finance, healthcare, or government. If your organisation hasn’t yet established an AI usage policy, now is the ideal time to do so.

We recently held a Lunch and Learn on safe AI adoption in the workplace, where we made the case for creating an AI Use Policy. Find that here.

Conclusion

AI agents could very well be an invaluable resource, offering substantial benefits in productivity, automation, and efficiency. However, the technology is currently in a “messy middle” phase, where it shows potential but is not yet widely tested or integrated into everyday business operations. Careful planning, appropriate oversight, and a robust AI policy can help your organisation navigate this new tech effectively and safely.

Need help putting together your AI policy or exploring how AI agents can benefit your business? Get in touch here.

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