An AI agent is software that uses a language model to decide which steps to take and which tools to call in order to complete a goal.
Where a chatbot answers a message, an AI agent acts. Given a goal such as 'book a meeting with this lead', it can read the request, check a calendar, pick a time and send an invite, choosing the steps as it goes.
'AI agent' is a technical term. It says what the software can do, not how a business should manage it. Who the agent reports to, which actions need sign-off and what it costs each month are left open.
Staff.work answers those questions with an employment model. What searchers call an AI agent, we call a staffer: an AI employee with a role, a manager, approval rules and a work log. The capabilities are similar; the difference is how the work is supervised.