A chatbot answers questions in one window. An AI agent has access to tools and carries out tasks itself: books an appointment, sends a quote, updates the CRM, writes to a customer. A chatbot is enough when you only need answers to common questions. You need an agent when you want the work done.
The three differences
- Tools: an agent can act in your software; a chatbot only writes.
- Memory and context: an agent sees the customer's history and data from your systems.
- Rules: an agent has clear limits on what it decides alone and what it asks a person about.
When a chatbot is enough
When the questions are common, the answers sit in a few documents and nothing in your systems needs to change.
When you need an agent
When an action follows the answer: a quote, a booking, a claim, a payment. Then the agent saves not just the typing but the whole task.
How we connect agents to your software
Through your software's API, or where there is none, through email, files or the screen. We also use MCP, a standard for connecting AI assistants to tools and data.