Generative AI? Agentic AI? What's the Difference?

Okay, let's be honest here. If you're feeling a bit lost in the AI terminology soup, you're definitely not alone.

I was chatting with one of our sales guys this morning who said to me, "I had a customer ask the difference between generative AI and agentic AI. More importantly, he wants to know why he should care." Sound familiar?

Here's the thing – the tech world loves its buzzwords, but underneath all that jargon are some pretty straightforward concepts that could actually matter for your business.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀:
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗜 is your creative assistant. It makes stuff – writes emails, creates images, generates reports, codes websites. Think ChatGPT writing a blog post or DALL-E creating a logo. It's incredibly good at producing content, but it needs you to tell it what to make.

𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗜, on the other hand, is more like having a really smart intern who can think ahead and take action. It doesn't just create – it plans, decides, and executes tasks to reach a goal you've set. It might use generative AI tools along the way, but it's the one calling the shots.

Here's my favorite way to explain it: Generative AI is the engine of a car – powerful and essential. Agentic AI is the driver who plans the route, navigates traffic, makes decisions about which turns to take, and adapts when there's a roadblock.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀?
Whether you're running a one-person startup or managing a large team, understanding this difference helps you figure out what kind of AI tools might actually be useful for you.

Need help creating content faster? Generative AI might be your friend.

Want something that can handle entire workflows – like researching leads, drafting personalized outreach, scheduling follow-ups, and tracking results? That's where agentic AI starts to shine.

The cool part? We're just scratching the surface of what's possible. And you don't need a computer science degree to start benefiting from either one.