Generative AI refers to models that produce new content - text, summaries, responses - based on patterns learned from training data, typically responding to a single prompt or interaction without independent action beyond generating output. Agentic AI extends this capability by enabling the system to take autonomous, multi-step actions toward a goal: making decisions, executing transactions across systems, and adapting its approach based on intermediate results without requiring a human to direct each step. In customer experience, generative AI is well suited to tasks like drafting response suggestions or summarizing conversations, while agentic AI is required for autonomously resolving a multi-step customer request - verifying an account, applying a credit, and confirming the change across systems without human intervention. Many advanced AI CX platforms now combine both: generative AI for content creation and agentic AI for autonomous workflow execution.
Comparisons