## What Is Agentic AI and Why Does It Matter?

Agentic AI is a new kind of artificial intelligence that works differently from the AI we have been using. Regular AI, like ChatGPT, waits for you to ask it a question and then gives you an answer. But agentic AI is different because it can set its own goals, make plans, and take action without someone telling it exactly what to do every single time. Think of it like the difference between a student who waits to be told what to do versus a student who figures out what needs to be done and does it.

Agentic AI has several special abilities. It can understand human language, think through difficult problems, plan out steps to finish tasks, and learn and improve over time. These abilities working together make agentic AI much more powerful and useful than regular AI tools. The system can work with other AI systems and with people to accomplish learning goals and school tasks.

## How Schools Are Using Agentic AI

Schools are discovering many ways to use agentic AI to help students and teachers. Autonomous tutoring agents are AI tutors that can do much more than regular tutors. These special tutors can watch a student learning, notice if the student is getting frustrated, change how hard the material is, and automatically set up another lesson later. Organizations like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Century Tech are building these kinds of AI tutors that can adapt to each student's needs.

Teachers can use agentic AI to design better lessons. The AI can look at school standards, student information, and what teachers have learned works well, and then suggest lesson plans for the week. It can find good learning materials and make sure everything matches what the school wants to teach. As the AI works with students and teachers, it learns what teaching methods work best and gets better over time.

School offices can use agentic AI to handle jobs that take a lot of time. Agentic AI can schedule substitute teachers automatically, file facility reports, and send messages to parents about important school news. Professional development for teachers can become personalized too. Agentic AI can track what teaching style each teacher uses, what certifications they have, and how well their students do, and then recommend training just for that teacher.

## Real Examples From Universities

College professors are already using AI in new and creative ways. At the University of Delaware in the United States, Professor Matt Kinservik has changed how he teaches writing. Instead of fighting against AI, he teaches his students how to work with AI and think critically about what AI produces. He shows students that AI can make mistakes or even invent fake sources, which teaches them to check everything carefully. Students have told him that working with AI makes them think deeper about their own writing. Matt uses AI to simulate what students might see in real jobs, helping them prepare for a world where AI is everywhere.

At Kean University in New Jersey, United States, Professor Jennifer Chen studies how AI can help young children, ages 3 to 8, learn better. She uses AI to understand information about how kids learn and develops ideas about what good teaching looks like. Jennifer focuses on making sure AI is fair and protects students' privacy. She works to make sure AI doesn't treat students from different backgrounds unfairly. Her research helps create rules and best practices for using AI in classrooms where students speak different languages at home.

At California State University, Chico in the United States, Professor Zach Justus teaches other professors about AI and tests how well AI works. He shows teachers that AI can help with tasks but still needs human judgment. He finds mistakes in AI's answers and uses these mistakes to teach students how to think critically. This helps students understand that experts are still very important even with AI around.

## Big Announcements About Agentic AI

Large organizations have recently announced exciting plans for agentic AI. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it is giving its workers agentic AI tools to help review medicines and medical devices more quickly and safely. This technology will let FDA workers handle more complex tasks by using several AI models to work on different parts of a big job at the same time.

Microsoft announced that multi-agentic AI systems are the future for businesses. Instead of one AI doing the work, imagine a team of AI agents working together like team members, each doing their special job. Microsoft is helping companies use AI teams that can understand what a company needs, take action, and work with different computer systems and tools. This is different from older automation that followed the same exact steps every time.

## How Fast Is Agentic AI Growing?

The agentic AI market is growing extremely fast. Experts predict the global agentic AI market will grow from 7.55 billion dollars in 2025 to 199.05 billion dollars by 2034, which is a huge increase. This growth means more companies and schools will be using agentic AI in the next few years. Companies know that agentic AI can automate and improve many kinds of work, so they are investing lots of money into developing these technologies.

## What About Privacy and Fairness?

As schools use agentic AI more, they need to think carefully about keeping students' information private and making sure AI treats all students fairly. Schools need to answer important questions like how does the AI make its decisions? and who is responsible if the AI makes a mistake? School leaders are starting to form AI committees with teachers, parents, and students to make sure AI is used the right way in their schools. Making sure all students are treated fairly, no matter their race, background, or abilities, is super important when using AI to make decisions about education.

## What Comes Next?

Agentic AI could become like a co-teacher in classrooms, helping teachers by automatically adjusting lessons based on how students are doing. It could help school operations run smoother and provide each student with their own personal mentor who guides them through learning. However, adopting this new technology will take time, training, and schools learning to trust it. Teachers and educators will stay the most important part of education, making sure that AI helps learning and doesn't replace the human connection that makes teaching special.