Agents have crossed the line from party trick to production tool — but only when they're built with the same rigor as any other system.
Give them real tools. An agent is only as capable as the actions it can take. Well-typed, well-described tools with clear boundaries are what turn a chatbot into a coworker.
Constrain the blast radius. Guardrails, approvals for high-stakes actions, and least-privilege access mean autonomy never becomes recklessness.
Evaluate relentlessly. Agents fail in subtle, compounding ways. Trajectory evals and human review on a sample keep quality honest as the agent evolves.