What is the difference between AI agents and agentic AI workflows?

An AI agent is the software component that reasons, decides, and acts through tools. An agentic AI workflow is the larger process that includes the agent's decisions, tool calls, state, handoffs, policies, and outcomes. One workflow may involve one agent, multiple agents, deterministic steps, human approvals, and external services. This distinction helps teams design for production. The agent framework may shape reasoning behavior, while the workflow layer governs how the work runs safely and reliably. Diagrid Catalyst is positioned around that production workflow layer: durability, security, governance, and observability around agents and MCP servers.