## The Rise of AI Agents in Business

Artificial intelligence agents are changing how companies work around the world. An AI agent is different from regular AI tools like ChatGPT because it doesn't just answer questions—it actually does tasks on its own. Think of it like hiring an employee who works 24 hours a day without getting tired and doesn't make mistakes. This week, major technology companies shared how they're building these smart agents to help businesses work faster and smarter.

## Agents for Advertising and Shopping

One exciting use of AI agents is in advertising. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, described a future where business owners talk to AI agents like they're talking to an advertising expert. Instead of hiring expensive marketing agencies, a small business owner could say to an AI: "I want to sell more products to people interested in sports in the United States," and the AI agent would automatically create ads, test them, spend the money wisely, and improve the campaign based on what happens.

Google is using similar AI agents for shopping. When people search for products in Google, AI agents now help them make shopping decisions inside the search results. This is smart because people don't have to leave Google to buy something—they can buy right there in the search box. Google and Sea, which owns the big shopping website Shopee in Southeast Asia, are working together to put these shopping AI agents into Shopee, so customers can get help from AI when they buy things.

## Building Software with AI

One announcement that surprised many people came from Fujitsu, a major Japanese technology company. Fujitsu created an AI platform that can build entire software programs all by itself. The platform understands complicated business rules (even rules that change a lot, like laws and regulations), and it can write the computer code needed to run a system. What makes this amazing is that the AI actually understands what humans mean by "tacit knowledge"—the things people know from experience but don't write down. This could mean companies need far fewer programmers doing routine work, and those programmers can focus on creative thinking instead.

## Customer Service Gets Smarter

Small businesses are getting AI agent help too. Housecall Pro, a service for small service companies, added an AI Chat Assistant that answers customer questions automatically. When someone visits a company's website and starts a chat, the AI answers common questions, schedules appointments, and only asks a human for help when it's really complicated. This is like having an extra customer service person on the team without hiring anyone new.

## Global Expansion of Agentic AI

Companies in other countries are also building powerful AI agents. In China, ByteDance (the company that owns TikTok) released Doubao 2.0, an AI agent that can do complex tasks. Doubao is cheaper to use than AI agents from American companies, and it already has 155 million weekly users. This shows that AI agents aren't just an American thing—they're becoming popular everywhere.

## New Jobs for Managing AI Agents

Many people worry that AI will eliminate jobs, but some big companies are doing something different. IBM announced it's hiring three times more young employees than it used to. However, these new employees won't be writing code all day—instead, they'll be "conductors" who manage what the AI agents do, make sure the AI doesn't make mistakes, and talk to customers. This suggests that instead of eliminating jobs, AI is changing what those jobs look like. Companies need people who understand both technology and business to work alongside AI agents.

## Why Agents Matter for Business

Adobe found that about one-third of companies are already testing agentic AI systems, and many think AI agents will handle most customer interactions within 18 months. Industries like supply chain and delivery, healthcare logistics, and customer support are moving quickly to use AI agents because they save time and money.

The key difference between regular AI and agentic AI is that regular AI answers questions, but agents take action. An agent can look at information from multiple sources, make decisions, and actually do something about it—like placing an order, sending a message, or fixing a problem. This is why companies are so excited about AI agents right now.