---
type: Article
name: "What is \"agentic\"?"
id: "https://selfe.ai/insights/glossary/what-is-agentic"
url: "https://selfe.ai/insights/glossary/what-is-agentic"
publisher: "did:web:selfe.ai"
description: "A description of behaviour, not a fixed category of product: something is acting agentically in a given moment when it's pursuing a goal on its own initiative, rather than only responding to what it's just been asked."
datePublished: "2026-09-15T16:25:20.643Z"
author: The Selfe team
---

# What is "agentic"?

> A description of behaviour, not a fixed category of product: something is acting agentically in a given moment when it's pursuing a goal on its own initiative, rather than only responding to what it's just been asked.

## In short

- Agentic describes a mode of behaviour in a given moment, not a fixed label a product either has or doesn't.
- Most real products are mostly responsive, with an agentic capability switched on for specific jobs.

Good for: Telling a specific step or interaction apart from a passive response. Not good for: Labelling a whole product once and for all. Most products are agentic for some jobs and not others.

The same piece of software can be agentic for one step and not the next. An assistant answering "what time do you open" is just responding. The same assistant told "book a table for four tomorrow if there's one, otherwise Thursday" and going off to check both, decide, and act, is behaving agentically for that step. Most products aren't purely one or the other, they're mostly responsive with an agentic capability switched on for specific jobs. "Agentic commerce" names the case where that capability is aimed specifically at finding, booking or buying something.

## Good for

Telling a specific step or interaction apart from a passive response.

## Not good for

Labelling a whole product once and for all. Most products are agentic for some jobs and not others.

## Act on this

- [Check whether an agent can buy from you](https://selfe.ai/agentic-commerce/buyability-check) — the free readiness scan.
- [Discover venues](https://selfe.ai/api/registry/discover) — `POST`, semantic browse across the registry.
- [Match a bookable answer](https://selfe.ai/api/registry/match) — `POST` with dates and party size.
- [Verify Selfe's identity](https://selfe.ai/.well-known/did.json) — `did:web:selfe.ai`.
- [Agent card](https://selfe.ai/.well-known/agent-card.json) — how to connect over A2A or MCP.