It’s family holiday time. You know the chaos: 47 unread group text messages about the menu. Your sister can’t agree on the date. Someone’s flight got cancelled. Uncle Mike just announced he’s a vegetarian (as of Tuesday). Your spouse is asking if the neighbors are invited and do we have enough chairs.
Somehow, you survived the planning madness and made it to the actual dinner. Then someone asks: “So what’s this AI agent thing everyone’s talking about?” Every head turns your way. You’re on.
Last year, I wrote about how to explain AI to your grandparents at holiday gatherings. The response was overwhelming, with many readers admitting they needed the explanation as much as Grandma did. This year, I want to talk about something that could very soon prevent that entire 47-message meltdown: autonomous AI agents.
And just like last year, this isn’t just for Grandma. It’s for coworkers, neighbors, lawmakers and shockingly, even our kids who think they know everything about technology.
What’s an AI Agent and How Do They Work?
An AI agent is a software system that uses artificial intelligence to autonomously make decisions and take actions to achieve a set of objectives. Translation: it’s a helper that doesn’t just answer questions or give advice. It does the work for you. You give it a task and it figures out all the steps, asks questions if it’s unsure and then acts on your behalf (but only with your permission, of course).
Here’s the difference between AI assistants (or chatbots) and autonomous AI agents. You need a new TV for the family room. You ask regular AI, ‘What’s a good 65-inch TV?’ and it gives you a list of options with specs and reviews. Helpful, but you still need to compare prices across retailers, check holiday deals, read more reviews, figure out delivery options, see if your credit card has cash-back offers and somehow find time to actually make the purchase before the holidays and the deal expires.
An autonomous AI agent? You tell it, ‘I want a 65-inch TV, best holiday deal, under $800.’ Then you go about your day. Your agent researches models that fit your criteria, tracks prices across every retailer, monitors inventory, compares specs and reviews, checks your credit card rewards and watches for lightning deals. When that perfect TV drops to $749 at 6pm, your agent alerts you or, if you gave it permission, it buys it, schedules pickup for Saturday morning, and adds it to your calendar. You never opened a browser or set an alarm for a doorbuster sale.
Autonomous AI agents work in three steps: think, ask, act. The agent won’t just answer your question. It will figure out all the steps needed to actually solve your problem and then take action.
Where We Are Now – Can I Use Them This Year?
Here’s where we are with AI agents today. They’re still largely experimental. Most organizations are testing them in controlled environments, figuring out what they can do well and where they need guardrails. And they’re going to be better at some tasks than others – at least initially.
Think about how robotic vacuums like Roomba changed cleaning. You don’t see the vacuum working most of the time—it’s off doing its thing while you’re at work or asleep. It maps the room, figures out where to go, does the actual work, empties itself when done, and some even mop up spills they find along the way. You barely think about it.
But sometimes it gets stuck under the couch. Sometimes it needs you to clear a path. And when it’s finished or confused, it signals for your input.
AI agents work in a similar way, except they’re even more invisible—they’re software running in the background of your digital life. You won’t see them working. You’ll just notice that things got done. Your prescription got refilled. Your calendar got organized. Your travel got booked. And occasionally, like that vacuum, they’ll need your help when they hit something they can’t figure out on their own.
The Real Magic: When Agents Talk to Each Other
Your agent will be powerful on its own. But when your autonomous AI agent can coordinate with other people’s agents? That’s when the magic happens.
Back to that chaotic group text about holiday dinner. Imagine this instead:
You tell your agent, “I want to host a holiday dinner for the family in December.” Your agent immediately coordinates with your siblings’, parents and in-laws’ agents. It checks everyone’s calendars, finds three dates when all eight families can make it, and sends you the options. You pick one. It adds the date to everyone’s schedule.
Then the agents get to work. Your brother’s agent searches flights from Seattle. Your sister’s agent flags she’s gluten free and Uncle Mike is now vegetarian, so the agents coordinate the menu with options for everyone. Your spouse’s agent blocks prep time, adds groceries to your shared list, and checks the TV schedule so dinner doesn’t land during the big game.
The agents will divide up the shopping list based on who lives near which stores. They’ll coordinate who brings what so three cousins aren’t all showing up with green beans. Your cousin’s agent realizes her flight lands at 2pm and she needs a ride. It checks who’s free and coordinates with your nephew’s agent. He picks her up.
What used to take 47 text messages, 13 phone calls, multiple arguments, one person threatening to just order pizza instead and three weeks of coordination happens in an afternoon. The agents handle the logistics and the execution. You just approve the plan and do a little cooking (sorry, AI agents can’t do it all).
This same coordination will work for business travel, comparing insurance plans and your kid’s birthday party. The coordination isn’t just convenient. It’s transformative.
But Is It Safe? Who’s Really in Control?
I can hear Grandpa’s concerns already. “AI is going to book flights and spend my money and schedule my life without me knowing?”
No. You’ll always be in control.
Think of your agent as a trusted helper with clear boundaries. You’ll set the rules. You’ll decide what your agent can do automatically and what requires your approval. Maybe your agent can schedule doctor appointments on its own but needs your okay before making a purchase. Maybe it can coordinate with your spouse’s agent freely but needs permission before sharing information with anyone else’s agent. You decide.
And just like last year when we talked about AI safety, the provider of your agent will matter enormously. There’s a massive difference between an agent from a company that won’t tell you what happens to your data and an agent from a company required to comply with privacy regulations and security standards and has a reputation to protect.
This is where governance becomes critical. As these agents become more capable and more integrated into our lives, we need clear rules about data privacy, security, transparency and accountability. Getting this governance right isn’t just important, it’s essential. Companies like Dell and NVIDIA are building the infrastructure needed to power these agents, investing heavily in the security needed to make this technology trustworthy.
When agents become available, approach them the same way you did with GenAI: start small. Let your agent handle low-stakes tasks first. Build trust gradually. And remember: you’ll always be able to override your agent, adjust its permissions or end its mission. You’ll be the boss.
What This Means for You
Think about the time you’ll get back. Not just the hours spent on hold with customer service or comparing insurance plans or coordinating schedules. When your agent handles the logistics of life, you’ll get to focus on what matters. Remember, the goal of all technology, especially AI agents, is to serve you. To handle the stuff you hate doing so you can focus on the stuff and the people you love.
My advice is the same as last year: don’t be stubborn. The computing power and infrastructure needed to make autonomous AI agents work – the kind that Dell and NVIDIA are developing – is advancing rapidly.
We’ll start to see this technology in 2026. It can genuinely improve your life. And maybe next year’s holiday dinner will be the easiest one you’ve ever planned.