The First Year of Agentic AI: AI Agents Enter the Core of Operations

Published on the 31st of May, 2025 on Sin Chew Daily

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The First Year of Agentic AI: AI Agents Enter the Core of Operations

2023 was the first time many people personally experienced the potential of artificial intelligence. ChatGPT opened a new world of AI automation for us—whether it was helping us write emails, compose reports, code, or perform everyday language-based tasks. These previously unimaginable tools (like Chatbots) began entering the mainstream.

But after a year or so, we started to realize the limitations of these chat-style AIs: they could “chat,” but not “execute”; they could “talk,” but not “act.” Every interaction started to feel repetitive. They couldn’t continue tasks based on your workflow, wouldn’t actively remind you, and couldn’t manage tasks on your behalf. This is the boundary between Chatbots and AI Agents—and why 2025 is being called the “First Year of Agentic AI.”

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What’s the difference between Chatbots, AI Agents, and Agentic AI?

Chatbots are the most familiar AI interface for most of us—mainly based on FAQ interactions or GPT-style dialogues. They’re good for casual queries but lack continuity and execution capabilities. The key to AI Agents is in their execution—they can follow up on instructions, automatically complete tasks (even using external tools to complete multi-step processes), truly transforming work from conversation to execution.

Agentic AI goes even further. It’s not just about giving an agent a task—Agentic AI implies a system that is self-directed, continuously learning, and capable of collaborating with other agents or even replacing human decision-making. In short: it’s a fully autonomous system that can manage parts of your business operations.

This shift marks a paradigm change: representing a move toward autonomous production systems. It also implies that AI is no longer just a tool—it is becoming an operator.

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Why 2025 is the true starting point of Agentic AI

In the past, AI applications were limited to assisting with customer service, marketing, or personal productivity. But starting in 2024, many startups began embedding AI Agents into their core workflows.

For example, when you input a goal like “set up a website” or “create a CRM report,” the Agent can automatically execute the steps, guiding the team or autonomously performing the tasks—sometimes even coordinating human team members. This isn’t just task automation—it’s a redefinition of work management and execution.

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On the other hand, China’s Zhipu.ai has already launched a multi-agent operating system, aiming to be a workplace operating system. It supports multi-agent collaboration and memory, enabling complex workflows and persistent execution. You can define roles for each AI Agent, such as data analyst, campaign planner, or assistant—all performing designated tasks with shared memory and logs.

Even NVIDIA’s founder Jensen Huang said: “Every company will become an AI company.” He envisions the rise of “AI factories”—automated production lines powered by AI. These factories won’t produce physical goods, but decisions, content, and strategic outputs—from proposals and reports to campaign planning and HR admin.

Langflow, Flowise, and other visual tools are now enabling even non-technical users to build agent workflows with drag-and-drop interfaces.

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Who should start using AI Agents?

AI Agents are no longer limited to large corporations. In fact, small businesses might benefit even more—because these teams often face resource shortages and multitasking. With AI Agents, a one-person company could operate like a five-person team. Businesses can use Agents to manage clients, respond to WhatsApp messages, generate reports, or analyze sales data.

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Yellow Light: Every Company Will Be Affected

It’s not just a trend—this is a restructuring of work itself. From production to admin, from frontline staff to backend planning, Agentic AI will redefine job roles and industry processes.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang predicts: “Every company will become an AI company.” We must understand that from now on, every company is either becoming agent-driven or being replaced.

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Key takeaway: Your role will shift from executor to collaborator

If 2023 was the year we first experienced ChatGPT, and 2024 was the year we explored AI Agents, then 2025 will be the year we collaborate with AI Agents in practice.

The significance of Agentic AI isn’t just technological—it’s structural. Our roles in business will no longer be passive or labor-based, but instead become about decision-making, management, and coordination. AI will evolve from a support tool to a strategic partner.

From now on, adding AI to a business isn’t just adding a “tech department”—it’s adding a new team member.

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🔹 Set up an AI customer agent that chats on WhatsApp
🔹 Build an AI reporting assistant that updates sales summaries daily
🔹 Create an AI operations bot that triggers reminders, books rooms, or arranges meetings

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Written by: 蘇仲成

(Assistant Professor, Lingnan University)
Column: 多點AI

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