How agentic AI works: the loop
From perception to execution—the steps every agentic system follows.
How agentic AI works: the loop
From perception to execution—the steps every agentic system follows.
Lesson outline
The agentic loop
Agentic systems follow a repeatable loop: gather data, reason about it, set or refine goals, decide the next action, execute it, then learn from the outcome. Orchestration coordinates multiple agents. The diagram below shows this flow at a glance.
The agentic loop: from perception to orchestration
Perception
Data comes from the environment: user input, APIs, databases, sensors. The system needs up-to-date information before it can decide.
Reasoning and goal setting
The AI interprets the data and sets or updates goals. It may use NLP, vision, or other models to understand context and choose objectives.
Decision-making and execution
It evaluates possible actions (e.g. which tool to call) and picks one. Then it runs that action—calling an API, querying a DB, or responding to the user.
Learning and orchestration
After acting, the system can use feedback to improve. In multi-agent setups, orchestration assigns tasks, passes results, and handles failures so the overall goal is met.
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