LUDA Research Group

The Difference Between an AI That Talks and an AI That Acts

The AI tools most of us use every day — like ChatGPT or Claude — are great at answering questions. But they can't actually browse the web on your behalf, send an email, or complete a booking. Think of them as advisors who give solid advice but never lift a finger to do the work themselves.

AI Agents are a different story. Give one a goal, and it will devise a plan, pick up the right tools, and see the task through to completion. Tell it to "schedule my business trip next week," and it will search for flights, compare hotels, and finalize the booking — all on its own. In short, it doesn't just talk; it gets things done.

How Does an AI Agent Actually Work?

At a high level, AI agents operate in three stages:

Understanding the Goal: Figuring out exactly what the user wants to achieve.
Planning: Breaking the goal down into smaller tasks and deciding the order to tackle them.
Executing: Taking real actions — searching the web, creating files, using apps, and more.

If something goes wrong mid-task, an AI agent can adapt on the fly and try a different approach — much like a seasoned employee who knows how to troubleshoot a project independently.

Want to try it yourself? Open the agent feature in Claude or ChatGPT and type something like: "Organize this month's team meeting schedule and draft an agenda." The agent will lay out a step-by-step plan and deliver the finished result.

Already Being Used on the Ground in New Zealand

New Zealand businesses are wasting no time putting AI agents to work.

Telecom provider One NZ is currently running more than 30 AI agents, and has compressed development projects that previously took 4–7 months down to just 45 days. The company is targeting a return of $5 for every $1 invested.

In healthcare, Whakarongorau Aotearoa (the national Healthline service) has deployed AI agents to provide immediate non-clinical guidance to patients waiting for phone or text consultations. The goal isn't to replace medical staff — it's to reduce administrative burden so care teams can focus on what matters most.

The New Zealand government projects that AI could contribute up to NZD $76 billion to GDP by 2038, and released the country's first-ever national AI strategy in 2025. Currently, 41% of New Zealand businesses are using AI — a jump of 5 percentage points in just a single quarter.

South Korean Companies Are Moving Fast Too

AI agent adoption is accelerating rapidly in South Korea as well. As of 2025, 55.7% of Korean businesses are using generative AI, with that figure expected to climb to 85% by 2026.

LG Uplus has integrated Google's Gemini AI into its AI call agent service, ixi-O. The system analyzes phone conversations in real time, offering contextual summaries and recommended next steps.

SK Telecom has announced plans to roll out AI agents across every area of its business by 2026, and is building additional data centers in Seoul with the ambition of becoming Asia's AI hub.

South Korea's agentic AI market is expected to grow from roughly 2 trillion Korean won in 2025 to approximately 61 trillion won by 2030 — a staggering compound annual growth rate of 175%.

Key Takeaways

AI agents don't just answer questions — they plan independently and take real-world action.
They operate in three stages: Understand the Goal → Build a Plan → Execute, adjusting their approach whenever obstacles arise.
New Zealand's One NZ runs over 30 AI agents in live operations and has slashed development timelines by up to 90%.
In South Korea, major players like LG Uplus and SK Telecom have already deployed AI agents in production services.
The global agentic AI market is projected to reach approximately $10.8 billion in 2026 and could expand to around $140 billion by 2034.

Wrapping Up