# Agentic Workflow vs AI Agent

> In an agentic workflow, model calls and tools follow code paths the developer defined in advance, such as a fixed chain or a router. In an AI agent, the model itself decides which steps and tools to use, in a loop, until the task is done, gaining flexibility at the cost of predictability and spend.

- Canonical URL: https://protologue.com/compare/agentic-workflow-vs-ai-agent/

## Agentic Workflow

An agentic workflow is a system in which language models and tools are orchestrated through predefined code paths, as opposed to an agent that chooses its own steps.
Entry: https://protologue.com/t/agentic-workflow/

## AI Agent

An AI agent is a system in which a language model dynamically directs its own process and tool use in a loop, deciding what actions to take based on environment feedback until a task is complete.
Entry: https://protologue.com/t/ai-agent/

## Differences

| | Agentic Workflow | AI Agent |
|---|---|---|
| Who decides the steps | The developer's code | The model |
| Predictability | High | Lower |
| Best for | Tasks that decompose cleanly in advance | Open-ended tasks whose steps cannot be known ahead |
| Common forms | Prompt chaining, routing, parallelization, orchestrator-workers | A tool-calling loop such as ReAct |

## Which to use

- Prefer a workflow whenever the task can be broken into known steps.
- Use an agent when the path depends on what is discovered along the way.

## Sources

- Anthropic (2024). Building effective agents. https://www.anthropic.com/research/building-effective-agents
- Anthropic (2024). Building effective agents. https://www.anthropic.com/research/building-effective-agents

## Cite this page

Protologue. (2026). Agentic Workflow vs AI Agent. In Protologue: A Taxonomy of Prompting and LLM Techniques (v1.4.0). https://protologue.com/compare/agentic-workflow-vs-ai-agent/

License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)