What AI agent development involves beyond a clever prompt
An agent is a loop. The model reads the goal, decides which tool to call, receives the result and decides again. The quality of that loop depends far more on engineering than on the prompt. Tools need precise descriptions and strict schemas. Results need to be returned in a form the model can reason about. Errors need to be surfaced clearly so the agent can retry or change approach instead of repeating the same failed call.
We also decide how much autonomy the task really needs. Many processes are better served by a fixed workflow with a model making one or two judgment calls than by a fully open-ended agent. Where open-ended planning is justified, we add step limits, budget limits and stopping conditions. For larger jobs, an orchestrating agent can delegate to specialized subagents, each with its own tools and a narrow brief, which keeps behavior predictable and easier to test.
- Strictly typed tool definitions
- Durable state with checkpoints and retries
- Step, time and spending limits
- Sandboxed test environment for every agent
- Rollback paths for reversible actions