# What is an agentic workflow?

> An agentic workflow is a task where one or more AI agents plan steps, call tools and choose the next move without a person's approval.

Source: https://meshin.co/glossary/agentic-workflow
Updated: 2026-10-02

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## Why it comes up

It comes up the moment a pitch or a product description says "agent" instead of "assistant". A security reviewer's next question is almost always what the agent can do without asking first. The reviewer asks because that is where the real exposure sits, not the model choice. A board hears "agentic" and correctly hears "this thing takes actions on its own." That is a different risk conversation than a chatbot that only produces text.

## What to do about it

List every action an agent can take, not just what it can say, and sign off on each as a separate risk. Set a real limit on what it can do without a person confirming first, especially anything that spends money, touches a customer record, or sends something external. Log every tool call, so a bad outcome traces to a specific decision. Evals belong here: test the whole action chain, not just the model's replies.