Agentic AI

In recruiter context

The 2026 picture on agentic AI is more sober than the 2024 hype suggested. Simple tool-use (single-step retrieval, function calls, single API actions) works reliably in production. Multi-step autonomous agents that operate over long tasks are still unreliable for most production use cases, drift over long horizons, and compound errors when steps depend on each other. Production-ready agent patterns share three traits: well-scoped tasks with verification gates, strong human-in-the-loop oversight, and explicit kill switches. Open-ended autonomous agents are still mostly research artefacts. Strong AI Engineers can name specific agent patterns they've shipped versus avoided.