Agentic AI vs Generative AI

Generative AI (GenAI)

Generative AI is designed to create content.

It generates:

• Text (ChatGPT-style responses)

• Images (DALL·E, Midjourney)

• Code

• Audio

• Video

Example:

• You ask: “Write a Python function to calculate VAT.”

• It generates the code.

• You ask: “Create a marketing email.”

• It generates the email.

It responds to prompts but does not independently take actions.

Think of it as:

🧠 Smart content generator

❌ Not an autonomous decision-maker

Agentic AI (AI Agents)

Agentic AI refers to AI systems that can:

• Plan

• Make decisions

• Take actions

• Use tools

• Execute multi-step tasks autonomously

An AI agent doesn’t just generate text — it acts.

Example:

Instead of:

“Generate a sales report.”

An agent:

1. Connects to your database

2. Retrieves sales data

3. Analyzes trends

4. Generates report

5. Emails it to management

All automatically.

Think of it as:

🤖 AI with goals + tools + memory + execution capability