What is an agent, really? | Printelligence

"Geert, just ask your agent." I get that question regularly these days. As if I had one tucked away in my inside pocket.

"Agent" is the buzzword of 2026. Every supplier, every training and every LinkedIn post promises you one. But behind that same word sit three very different things. And that difference decides whether you gain hours or throw money away.

Let us untangle it:

1) The assistant (Custom GPT, Gem, Project): a chatbot with a role and some knowledge. Waits for you, does nothing on its own. Not an agent.

2) The real agent: self-direction plus connections. Reads your mail, writes to your MIS. Only then is it an agent.

3) The workflow: a fixed, repeatable path. Reliable, but that is automation.

Slide 2 of the carousel: The assistant (Custom GPT, Gem, Project): role plus knowledge, not an agent

Slide 3 of the carousel: The real agent: self-direction plus connections

Slide 4 of the carousel: The workflow: a fixed path, that is automation

Not sure what you are dealing with? Ask 2 questions: does it decide by itself? And which connections does it have?

High on both = agent. Otherwise a chatbot wearing a hat.

Slide 5 of the carousel: The 2 questions that give it all away: does it decide by itself and which connections does it have?

Slide 6 of the carousel: No connections, no agent

And for the printing companies: a real agent touches your mail, your MIS and your customer data. Involve your IT now already, and take the AI Act into account as soon as an agent sends mails on its own.