Agentic AI: Innovation, Ethics, and the Road Ahead

In recent years, artificial intelligence has evolved from a passive tool to a system capable of making decisions independently—a shift known as agentic AI.

In recent years, artificial intelligence has evolved from a passive tool to a system capable of making decisions independently—a shift known as agentic AI. To get a deeper idea of agentic AI, let’s explore what that really involves.

Agentic AI refers to AI systems that exhibit autonomous decision-making, goal-oriented behaviour, and continuous learning while interacting with dynamic environments (Hosseini & Seilani, 2025).

#1: What is Agentic AI: A Simple Breakdown

To understand what agentic AI is, let’s consider an example: a user asks standard AI to draft an email, and it will write exactly what you ask for. However, give the task to an agentic AI, by contrast, and it refines its tone, schedules the mail, handles responses, and manages follow-ups. It has a sense of initiative that allows it to plan, prioritise, and act with minimal human input.

“Agentic AI is poised to revolutionize how we interact with artificial intelligence, promising more autonomous and goal-oriented systems.” — Marr, 2024

#2: Innovation and Instability: Rethinking Agentic Intelligence

The autonomy of agentic AI allows it to respond to dynamic situations, take initiative, and adapt to new information beyond predefined instructions. It presents immense opportunities, and that’s why its adoption is growing across industries. However, this very technology also raises ethical concerns.

“A recent study highlights the legal and ethical challenges that arise with the transition from traditional AI to agentic AI, where systems proactively execute processes and make real-time decisions.” — Mukherjee & Chang, 2025

#3: Designing the next chapter of AI

The rise in agentic AI requires us to focus on value-aligned collaboration. The AI systems we build must reflect human intent and uphold ethical integrity. Agentic AI must be a tool that doesn’t become complicit in addressing inequalities, climate change, and more.

“It has been argued that ensuring beneficial integration of AI systems in human societies while minimizing risks requires these systems to align with human values.”— Khamassi, Nahon, & Chatila, 2024

References

Hosseini, S., & Seilani, H. (2025). The role of agentic AI in shaping a smart future: A systematic review. Array, 100399.

Marr, B. [@BernardMarr]. (2024, September 16). Agentic AI is poised to revolutionize how we interact with artificial intelligence, promising more autonomous and goal-oriented systems [Tweet]. X.

Mukherjee, A., & Chang, H. H. (2025). Agentic AI: Autonomy, Accountability, and the Algorithmic Society.

Khamassi, M., Nahon, M., & Chatila, R. (2024). Strong and weak alignment of large language models with human values. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 19399.