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AI Agents: What Are They and Why Should You Care?

AI Agents aren't just chatbots. They're the upgrade businesses have been waiting for. This blog post covers everything you need to know about them.

With artificial intelligence (AI) being plastered on seemingly all kinds of tools, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the noise and wonder: what are the AI tools that will actually help my organization?

Answer: AI Agents.

Forget about the old days of using boring and annoying chatbots that malfunction when asked a simple question. AI Agents are among the easiest (and coolest) ways to leverage AI to optimize how your teams handle interactions, tasks, and entire processes.

But what exactly are AI Agents, and why are they gaining so much attention? This blog will break down:

What AI Agents are
How they're different from traditional chatbots
Where they're being applied across industries
How your business can successfully implement one

Let's dive in!

What Are AI Agents?

To make it simple, AI Agents are chatbots — but with significant upgrades that blow normal chatbots out of the water. They leverage generative AI and conversational AI to:

Carry out organic conversation
Execute tasks automatically and make basic decisions based on user input
Perform multi-step processes autonomously

Unlike traditional chatbots on websites, AI Agents represent a leap in functionality. They mimic human-like problem-solving abilities, adapting dynamically to diverse scenarios while providing consistent support across various workflows.

Think of an AI Agent as a virtual employee: it's capable of learning and improving over time. As long as you continue training it and tailoring its actions, it will continuously get better at executing the tasks you want.

So How Are AI Agents Different From Chatbots?

Like we said, AI Agents are significantly better chatbots. But what does that look like? Here’s a breakdown of what makes AI Agents unique:

Improved Functionality

Normal chatbots are structured. That means they perform predefined, scripted tasks (e.g., answering FAQs). This means that they cannot respond to any task other than the ones they've been assigned.

AI Agents, on the other hand, are highly adaptable. Since they use AI, they can handle complex, unscripted scenarios by analyzing context and utilizing advanced AI to deliver logical solutions. Furthermore, as they chat with other users and encounter unique conversations, organizations can look at them afterwards and tailor them further to handle these edge cases, improving your agent functionality.

Knowledge Base Training

Chatbots can't be intelligent. AI Agents can.

How? AI Agents can be trained on specialized databases and knowledge repositories. This enables them to act as subject-matter experts, pulling accurate and relevant information from vast sources to address unique inquiries effectively.

For example, you could train an agent on customer service transcripts. By leveraging AI, the agent can parse through the contents of the transcript, understand how to speak like a customer service agent, and how to cover the most common customer complaints.

The best part? Like real people, agents get even better. The more high-quality data and documents you provide, the smarter it gets.

The caveat: the data you train your agent on is important. An agent trained on bad data will result in either a dumb or controversial agent. Make sure you're training your agent on high-quality data.

Ability to Execute Actions

AI Agents aren't boring FAQ bots. They go beyond communicating — they can actively execute tasks.

With the right AI Agent, your organization can choose and design what actions you want your agent to execute, based on certain user inputs. These actions could include:

Checking a knowledge base for certain information
Updating information on external tools (e.g. CRMs like HubSpot and Salesforce, website platforms like Webflow and WordPress, etc.)
Transferring the user to a human if needed

For example, an AI Agent can assist a customer by updating their shipping address on a platform like Shopify, tracking their order, adjusting when they want their order delivered, and sending confirmation emails — all autonomously.

By enabling and training your agents to execute certain actions that help your users, you can ensure user satisfaction while reaping massive time and cost savings for your teams.

Organic and Customizable Conversations

Physically writing out every chatbot question and answer is exhausting and has turned many people off from chatbots. Luckily, AI Agents make this super easy with conversational AI.

With conversational AI, AI Agents provide fluid, human-like communication. Integrating machine learning algorithms and natural language processing (NLP), their responses feel organic and tailored to user intent.

AI Agents can also remember previous interactions, tailor responses based on user data, and even adapt to different language preferences. These customizable conversations also allow for smoother and more personalized user experiences.

Best of all, you can train your agent further by customizing its persona. Want it to sound very formal or super casual? Want it to emulate how a certain person talks? The best AI Agent tools enable you to tailor your agent's persona so that it talks exactly how you want it to talk.

And don't worry: you can also tell your agent what you DON'T want it to talk about. If there are certain topics you don't want it to discuss (e.g. politics, religion), you can detail it within its persona.

Data-Driven Insights

With AI Agents, businesses have access to valuable insights that can inform decision-making processes. These agents can collect and analyze data from interactions with customers, providing key metrics such as frequently asked questions, customer satisfaction rates, and trends in user behaviour.

This information can help businesses identify areas for improvement, optimize their AI Agent's performance, and make informed decisions about future strategies.

Where Are AI Agents Being Used?

The versatility of AI Agents makes them invaluable across industries and departments. Their wide range of functionalities allows them to support multiple business areas:

1. Customer Service

AI Agents enhance customer support by offering immediate assistance through conversational AI. They can handle a wide range of inquiries, reducing wait times and improving customer satisfaction.

Some areas where they can support include:

Providing 24/7 multilingual support
Automating issue resolution (e.g., processing refunds or scheduling appointments)
Automating service ticket creation and assignment
Freeing up human agents to focus on more complex cases

2. Human Resources

AI Agents can revolutionize HR departments by automating time-consuming administrative tasks like:

Screening resumes and shortlisting top candidates
Assisting employees with internal tools and benefits queries
Managing onboarding processes with tailored resources for new hires

3. E-Commerce

AI Agents can support customer personalization and back-office productivity by:

Recommending products based on customer preferences
Updating inventory and orders across order fulfillment platforms
Managing promotions across platforms

4. Field Service Management

Many field service workers waste time having to return to the office to collect information or file a service ticket. By enabling and training an AI Agent on common documents these workers need, field workers can use the agent to:

Search for critical info while they're out working
Submit service tickets while they're out on the field

5. Finance

From automating compliance checks to managing customer queries about accounts or payments, AI Agents are transforming how financial organizations operate.

AI Agents can support finance teams by:

Quickly processing vast amounts of data, ensuring regulatory compliance with minimal human intervention
Offering personalized, efficient support for customers, handling routine inquiries and freeing up human staff to focus on more complex tasks.

By streamlining operations and enhancing the customer experience, AI Agents can empower modern financial institutions to perform at a higher level.

How to Get Started With an AI Agent

If you're considering integrating an AI Agent into your business, follow these steps:

Step 1: Identify Your Business Needs

Determine where an AI Agent could provide the greatest value — whether it's customer service, data handling, or internal operations automation.

Step 2: Select the Right Platform

Choose an agent that will be simple to build and use. We recommend leveraging no-code AI Agents as that can empower virtually anyone within your organization to implement AI Agents as they need them.

Step 3: Train the AI Agent

Customize the AI Agent to fit your business needs by training it on your company-specific knowledge base. Make sure that the documents you're providing have the info your agent needs. Make sure to review your knowledge base often and remove documents that are causing your AI Agent to act improperly. This helps it learn the nuances of your operations while tailoring responses.

Step 4: Pilot and Optimize

Run smaller-scale trials to test the AI Agent’s functionality in real scenarios. Deploy it on your website or app. Use gathered insights to refine its behaviour continuously.

Step 5: Monitor and Update

AI Agents thrive with continual learning. Regularly update their knowledge base and functionality to align with changing business needs and evolving market demands.

Unlock the Power of AI Agents With Symphona Converse

With their ability to execute tasks, increase efficiency, and scale services, AI Agents are the easiest way for organizations to gain a competitive edge in any industry by leveraging AI.

If you're looking for the easiest platform to get started, Symphona Converse makes implementing AI Agents accessible for businesses of all sizes. Its no-code tools empower you to create, test, and deploy intelligent agents designed to transform your customer engagement, automate workflows, and enhance service quality — without writing a single line of code.

Start leveraging AI Agents with Symphona Converse today. Click here to sign up for your free account and see how AI can elevate your business operations.

AI Agents: What Are They and Why Should You Care?

AI Agents aren't just chatbots. They're the upgrade businesses have been waiting for. This blog post covers everything you need to know about them.

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Want to Get in Touch?

AI Agents: What Are They and Why Should You Care?

AI Agents aren't just chatbots. They're the upgrade businesses have been waiting for. This blog post covers everything you need to know about them.

How SMBs Can Unlock Business Efficiency with AI Automation

The Top 6 AI Solutions Governments Can Use to Optimize Operations

8 Key Practices You Should Have for Setting Up Superior AI Agents

Want to Get in Touch?

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