AI agent — An AI system that doesn't just answer once but works toward a goal in a loop — taking actions, reading the results, and deciding what to do next.
Why it matters
swyx frames a mental model for building AI-intensive apps as they shift from chatbot-style 1:1 interaction to deep-research and ambient AI agentAn AI system that doesn't just answer once but works toward a goal in a loop — taking actions, reading the results, and deciding what to do next.Full definition → patterns (1:100, 0:n), giving engineers a vocabulary and architecture lens for designing workflows and agents.
Key quotes
“We used to be low status. People just derive GPT rappers and look at all the GPT rappers. Now all of you are rich.”
swyx
“what is the standard model in AI engineering right we have standard models in the rest of engineering”
swyx
“he reads AI news he loves it but it is not an agent. And I was like what do you mean it's not an agent?”
swyx
“we want to deliver value instead of arguable terminology”
swyx
“when you start to make real money from your customers is when you start to do evals and you start to add in security orchestration and do real work”
videoWhy AI Agents Need Million-Token Context — Thomas Wolf & Olive Song, MiniMax
videoYour company brain will leak secrets: how we stopped it for big banks — Tanmai Gopal, PromptQL
videoTethered: Our Agents Are Us — Shu Fang, Two Sigma
videoAgents' next frontier: agent-to-agent and network effects — Jean-Denis Greze, Town
