What is an AI Agent?
An AI agent is an autonomous software system that perceives its environment, reasons about it, and takes actions to achieve specified goals — often using large language models as the reasoning core.
WHY IT MATTERS
AI agents represent a fundamental shift from chatbots that answer questions to systems that do things. A chatbot tells you how to book a flight. An agent books the flight, checks your calendar, picks the cheapest option, and pays for it.
The agent paradigm combines LLM reasoning with tool access — the ability to call APIs, execute code, browse the web, and interact with external systems. This creates systems that can handle multi-step tasks autonomously, adapting their approach based on intermediate results.
The implications for finance are profound. An AI agent with wallet access doesn't just recommend a DeFi strategy — it executes trades, rebalances positions, and manages risk 24/7. The question shifts from 'can the agent do this?' to 'should it be allowed to?'
HOW POLICYLAYER USES THIS
PolicyLayer provides the spending controls that AI agents need when handling financial operations. Rather than giving agents unrestricted wallet access, PolicyLayer enforces per-transaction limits, rolling budgets, and recipient whitelists — ensuring agents operate within human-defined boundaries.