AI terms in plain language
AI agent
An AI agent is software that holds a specific role in a business — it works from the business's own knowledge, carries a real share of the work, and acts with human review, unlike a chatbot that only answers when asked.
In the 4A AI Roadmap by Jerry Ilao, AI agents define Level 3: the AI does the work; the human guides. The practical test is ownership — an agent has a job description, a named human owner, and outputs that a person reviews.
The Leapfrog
The Leapfrog is the adoption path in the 4A AI Roadmap from Level 1 (assistants) directly to Level 3 (agents), skipping workflow automation — recommended for most SMEs because modern agent platforms carry the workflow structure with them.
The Leapfrog does not skip the prerequisites: Level 1 fluency and a business knowledge layer come first. It is the named, legitimate move for founder-led companies under roughly 50 people.