The AI glossary: answers first, hype never
Short definitional pages for the AI and automation terms that show up in sales calls and vendor decks: AI agent, RAG, webhook, Voice AI, token. Each page opens with a definition short enough to quote in a meeting, then shows how the term looks inside a real project.
Half the AI vocabulary you meet in 2026 is marketing. When a vendor says "agents", they may mean a scheduled script; when they say "trained on your data", they usually mean retrieval, which is cheaper and often better. This glossary defines terms the way we use them when we build: precisely enough to catch a bluff, briefly enough to actually read. Every entry ends the same way, with how the term shows up in a project we shipped, because a definition you cannot connect to a working system is trivia. For the systems behind the vocabulary, see custom AI agents and the rest of the solutions; for the buying side of the jargon, what an AI agency actually does is the longer read.
First entries in production: what is an AI agent, what is RAG, what is a webhook, what is n8n.
FAQ
Frequently asked
What is the difference between an AI agent and a chatbot?
A chatbot converses; an agent acts. A chatbot answers questions in a chat window, while an agent calls tools and APIs (your CRM, calendar, email) to complete tasks, sometimes with no conversation at all. Many production systems are both: a chat interface in front, an agent doing the work behind it.
Do I need to know these terms to work with an AI agency?
No. A good agency translates everything into your process and numbers. But knowing a dozen terms keeps vendors honest, and that is exactly what this glossary is for.
What is the most misused AI term right now?
"Agent". In 2026 it gets applied to everything from a cron job with an API key to genuinely autonomous multi-step systems. Our definition page draws the line: if it cannot decide between actions and use tools to carry them out, it is automation, not an agent.
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