An AI agent that maintains persistent state across interactions, remembering previous conversations, user preferences, and task context. Unlike stateless chatbots that treat each message independently, stateful agents build and maintain a model of the ongoing relationship — enabling continuity across sessions, channels, and time.
Related Terms
Semantic Memory
A knowledge storage system that allows AI agents to remember and recall information based on meaning rather than exact keywords. Semantic memory uses vector embeddings to store and retrieve contextually relevant information, enabling agents to maintain long-term context across conversations and channels.
AI Agent
An autonomous software system powered by a large language model (LLM) that can perceive its environment, make decisions, and take actions to achieve specific goals. Unlike simple chatbots, AI agents can use tools, access external data, maintain context across interactions, and chain multiple reasoning steps together.
Agentic Engineering
The discipline of designing, building, and deploying autonomous AI agent systems that can reason, plan, and execute complex tasks with minimal human oversight. Agentic engineering combines software engineering, AI/ML, and systems design to create production-grade autonomous workflows.