Distinguish between generative AI and agentic AI.
Understand agentic AI and how AI agents work
Evaluate how agentic AI can be applied in business
Agentic AI is changing how professionals and teams think about work, automation, and human-AI collaboration, moving us from tools that simply answer prompts to systems that can share in planning, execution, and decision-making.
This course examines how these shifts may change roles, workflows, and organizational structures in the years ahead. Led by Harvard Professor Hanspeter Pfister, this course guides you through the transition from generative AI, which primarily responds to prompts, to agentic AI: systems that can plan steps, call tools, interact with applications, and carry out complex tasks with varying levels of autonomy.
Through expert insights and real-world examples, you will explore the technology behind AI agents. You’ll learn how large language models serve as a foundation for agentic systems, and how agents use reasoning, task decomposition, and tool integration to turn simple prompts into multi-step actions.
You will also learn to identify high-potential uses for agentic AI in your own work while recognizing where human judgment should remain central. Along the way, you’ll consider key challenges such as hallucinations, bias, bad agents, data exposure, and governance, preparing you to evaluate when and how to use AI agents responsibly.
