The Evolution of Agentic AI: How We Got Here

AI didn’t just roll out of bed one morning and start writing code or scheduling your meetings. Before agentic AI could act—not just respond—we had to crawl through decades of research, clunky robots, and helpful-but-awkward software (looking at you, Clippy).

So how did we get here? Let’s trace the long, twisty journey from “What if machines could think?” to “Hey AI, go launch a product.” (See an example of how this is going live with Google agents and eloquently demo'd by a friend, [here])

Early Foundations (1950s–1980s)

The Birth of AI and the First Agents

The seed was planted in the '50s:

What if machines could not just compute… but think?

1956: A group of researchers meet at the Dartmouth Conference and coin the term “artificial intelligence.” The dream? Build machines that behave like humans.
1960s–70s: Enter the first “agents.” These were mostly glorified calculators and chess bots, but hey—they could make decisions. Kind of.
1972: Shakey the Robot shuffles onto the scene. It could sense, plan, and act. Basically, the grandparent of every AI agent we have today.

This probably sounds familiar if you have gone through my post: From Myths to Machines: How AI Came to Life, but here we will focus on agents, I promise :)

The Rise of Agent Theory

By the 1980s, AI researchers start putting some structure around these fuzzy dreams.

Thinkers like Marvin Minsky and John McCarthy define what it means to be an intelligent agent—something that can observe its world, make decisions, and act.
Rodney Brooks flips the whole game with subsumption architecture, showing that smart behavior doesn’t need a big plan—just smart layers stacked together.
Meanwhile, early experiments with multi-agent systems kick off—little software teams solving big problems together.

The Internet Era (1990s–2000s)

Software Agents Go (Sort of) Mainstream

Then the internet happened. And AI agents? They started to show up in our apps.

1990s: Yes, Clippy. Technically a proactive agent. Emotionally… complicated.
1994: BargainFinder launches—one of the first bots to crawl the internet for deals.
1995: General Magic introduces Telescript, a system for agents that roam between devices doing tasks. Way ahead of its time.

In the background, industries start using AI agents for logistics, telecom, and factory work. They weren’t flashy—but they worked.

Smarter Brains, Smarter Agents

The Modern Age (2010s–Today)

Deep Learning Ignites a Revolution

By now, we’ve got data, GPUs, and enough compute power to finally make good on those 1950s dreams.

2012: AlexNet dominates image recognition, reviving interest in neural networks.
2015: AlphaGo beats a human Go champion with a legendary, totally unexpected move (Move 37). It wasn’t luck—it was agency.
2016: The first foundation models start to show up. Huge neural nets, flexible across tasks. Not just one-trick bots—more like Swiss Army brains.

The Birth of True Agentic AI

The Future of Agentic AI

What’s next? The real leap might be when agents stop being “tools” and start becoming teammates. We’re talking:

AI Squads: Multiple agents collaborating on projects
Agent-to-Agent Chat: Seamless communication, no human middleman
Hyper-specialists: Agents that become experts in your workflows
Rules of the Road: Ethics, oversight, and new playbooks for autonomous decision-makers

We’ve gone from a robot on wheels (Shakey) to AI tools that can debug themselves, write marketing copy, and book your flights while you sleep. And the wildest part? We’re still in Act One. So what’s next? AI therapists? AI co-founders? AI that does your taxes and gives you relationship advice?

Whatever it is—we won’t be building it alone. Our agents will be right there with us.

Bonus Fun Fact!

There are now agentic(ish) AIs that can date for you—yes, they’ll swipe, chat, and even ghost on your behalf. We’ve officially outsourced emotional labor to the cloud.

🧠 Case in point: tools like YourMove AI and Rizz AI help draft flirty messages, manage dating profiles, and keep convos going. Some users even let the AI handle chats end-to-end until it’s time to schedule the date. It’s like a dating intern… with better one-liners. 🥂

Woman and robot share a candlelit dinner, holding hands with wine glasses. Warm sunset view through the window creates a cozy atmosphere.

Right now, honestly I think they’re smart assistants—not full-blown agents. But one day, your AI won’t just ghost for you—it’ll do it with grace. When that happens, dating might finally be emotionally efficient.

P.S. This is a 5-Part Series