What are AI agents, and how do they work? 2025 guide

What is an AI agent?

An AI agent is a type of software that can perceive its environment, make decisions, and take actions to achieve specific goals, often without human intervention. It's more than just an automated script or chatbot; it's designed to act intelligently and autonomously.

You can think of an AI agent like a personal assistant with a task list and some brainpower. It can take instructions like "book me the cheapest train to Berlin" or "gather the top headlines from five different news sites" and actually figure out how to do it on its own.

AI agent definition

At a technical level, an AI agent is any program that uses inputs (from sensors, APIs, or the web), processes them through logic or learned behavior, and outputs an action, whether that's returning information, triggering a workflow, or interacting with a service.

How do AI agents work?

AI agents operate through a cycle that closely mirrors how humans make decisions: they perceive, they plan, and they act. This cycle is often referred to as the "agent loop."

Perceive, plan, act: the agent loop

• **Perceive**: The agent gathers data from its environment, whether that's a website, an API, or user input.

2. **Plan**: It processes that data to decide what to do. This might involve reasoning, querying memory, or using a model like GPT-4.

3. **Act**: It performs an action like submitting a form, retrieving structured data, or triggering another process.

Some agents run this loop once. Others are designed to repeat it continuously, adapting as they go, just like a person checking multiple travel sites before booking a trip.

Real-world examples of AI agents

AI agents aren't science fiction anymore, they're already being used across industries.

• **Customer service**: AI chatbots powered by agents can resolve complex requests like tracking packages or canceling subscriptions by interacting with multiple systems behind the scenes.
• **Web automation**: Tools like Lindra.ai allow AI agents to interact with websites directly by extracting data, clicking buttons, or triggering workflows without needing code or scraping scripts.
• **Research assistants**: Agents can browse the web, summarize articles, compare product reviews, or even draft responses based on your preferences.
• **Scheduling tools**: Some agents can check your calendar, suggest meeting times, and even book appointments with other people.

AI agents vs. traditional automation

At first glance, AI agents might sound like another name for bots or automation scripts. But there are key differences.

For example, a script might extract data from a website only if the HTML structure stays exactly the same. An AI agent, on the other hand, could recognize when a layout has changed and adapt.

Why AI agents matter in 2025

We're in the middle of a shift from tools that follow instructions exactly to tools that understand what you want and figure out the how on their own.

That's where AI agents shine. They make automation more flexible, more accessible, and less fragile.

In 2025, AI agents are already transforming:

• How businesses handle repetitive tasks
• How developers and no-code builders create workflows
• How AI models interact with the web in real time

The role of Lindra in powering AI agents

One of the tools built specifically for AI agents is Lindra.ai. It lets agents extract structured data and trigger workflows from any website, instantly and without code.

With Lindra, you simply:

• Paste a URL

2. Describe the data or action you want

3. Get a clean, production-ready API endpoint. No scraping, no scripts, no browser hacks

This means AI agents can now work on any site a person can use, without needing that site to provide an API. And when that site changes, Lindra's self-healing APIs adapt automatically and keep your agent's workflow running smoothly.

Whether you're pulling product listings, booking a service, or monitoring live content, Lindra makes it easy for AI agents to interface with the web in a structured, reliable way.

Risks and ethical considerations

As powerful as AI agents are, they're not without challenges.

• **Autonomy**: Letting agents take actions online introduces the risk of errors or unintended consequences.
• **Security**: Agents that interact with third-party systems or sensitive data need careful control.
• **Transparency**: Users should understand what decisions the agent is making and why.

That's why responsible design, testing, and audit trails are becoming essential in agent-based systems.

Final thoughts about AI agents

AI agents aren't just the next step in automation. They represent a fundamental shift in how we interact with the web. Instead of building fragile scripts or relying on rigid APIs, we're moving toward a future where intelligent agents can navigate, extract, and act.

Whether you're a developer, a business owner, or someone who just wants to save time, AI agents open the door to a smarter, faster way to get things done online.

Want to see how it works in practice? Try turning a website into a live API using Lindra.ai — no code required.