Tonight someone asked me what an "AI Agent" was...

For the first time in a long time, I actually couldn't answer.

I speak on stage about this. But it's been changing (AGAIN).

I've spent the last few days poking around Hermes agents, building my own Claude AIOS interface, and creating "agents" in a new way.

We're way past the chatbot. A claude agent in cowork is a skill or workflow. Claude Code can do amazing things...

What I've learned working in Hermes for a few days...

Usually built as multi-agent systems, so you can run a whole crew of specialized agents that can even talk to each other
Often support dozens of channels to reach them, not just one app
Can be hosted in all kinds of environments
Always have memory
Sometimes have a "heartbeat" system, a simple thing that quietly picks up loose ends and unresolved threads
Follows rules from you
Always have cron, meaning scheduled tasks that run on their own
Always support a ton of different LLMs
Always have skill systems and extension systems
You decide how the whole thing is wired
Can give personality- I'm giving mine Bravo summer house vibes. IFYKYK