Agents possess the characteristics of delegacy , competency , and amenability . Actions include making decisions, committing resources, and performing tasks. The capability to effectively manipulate the problem domain environment to accomplish the prerequisite tasks.
Competency includes specialized communication proficiency.
The ability to adapt behavior to optimize performance in an often non-stationary environment in responsive pursuit of the goals of the client. Amenability may be combined with accountability. Examples of human agents include booking agents, sales agents, and politicians. An artificial agent which operates in a software environment. Software environments include operating systems, computer applications, databases, networks, and virtual domains.