Agents vs. Chatbots: How to Build One That Actually Works

Plain-English agents, not hype: plan, use tools, add guardrails—then dry-run a calendar + inbox agent that saves hours.You’ve heard “AI agent” everywhere, but definitions vary. In this episode, Mukundan explains—in plain, practical language—what a real agent is and when to use one. We’ll contrast agents with chatbots and simple automations, walk through the five pillars (goal, plan, tools, memory, feedback), and strip the tooling of buzzwords. Then we run a live dry-run: two 90-minute deep-work blocks, one 45-minute admin sweep, and a 30-minute workout that avoids your existing commitments. We finish by triaging sample emails into reply/delegate/archive/read-later and drafting five concise replies with one clear next step each. Safety first: drafts-only, tentative calendar holds, approval gates, and fallbacks if tools fail. Copy the templates from the show notes and ship your v0.5 tonight.Lightning Round: True/False (answers in the episode)An AI agent is just a chatbot.Remove a tool and it still makes progress → probably a real agent.Clear success criteria matter less than good prompts.Chatbots reply; agents execute across steps.Fixed automations are best when inputs rarely change.If a tool disconnect breaks everything, it’s a brittle macro.Links & ResourcesAI Agent Copy-Paste Templates (run these in ChatGPT): Get your free copyRecording Partner: Riverside → Sign up here (affiliate)Host Your Podcast: RSS.com (affiliate )Research Tools: Sider.ai (affiliate)Join the Newsletter: Free Email Newsletter to receive practical AI tools weekly.Join the Discussion (comments hub): https://mukundansankar.substack.com/notes🔗 Connect with Me:Website: Data & AI with MukundanTwitter/X: @sankarmukund475LinkedIn: Mukundan SankarYouTube: Subscribe

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