Agentic Spectrum
The spectrum of AI agent architectures from simple prompt-response to fully autonomous multi-agent systems, with trade-offs at each level.
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The Agentic Spectrum: Chains to Full Autonomy
Autonomy is a dial, not a switch. Seven levels from a single augmented call to a fully autonomous loop — and the discipline of choosing the lowest one that solves the problem.
The most load-bearing distinction in agentic design comes from Anthropic’s “Building Effective Agents”: workflows are systems where your code decides the path and the model fills in steps; agents are systems where the model decides the path. Every level you climb trades predictability, debuggability, and cost-control for capability on open-ended work. The senior move — the one interviewers are listening for — is not building the most autonomous thing. It is naming the lowest level on the spectrum that solves the problem, and justifying any climb with eval evidence.
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