Understanding Agentic AI: Agent Team
Definition of Agent Team
An agent team $(\mathcal{A}\_{\tau})$ is a task-scale configuration of multiple agent instances that collaboratively perform a single task $(\tau)$ comprising multiple subtasks $(\mathcal{T}\_{\tau}=\{\tau\_1,\tau\_2,\ldots,\tau\_m\})$. Each agent instance $(A\_i\in\mathcal{A}\_{\tau})$ can participate in the execution of one or more subtasks $(\tau\_j\in\mathcal{T}\_{\tau})$ or assume a particular role $(r\_i)$ that contributes to performing the target task. The relationship between agent members and subtasks does not need to follow a fixed one-agent–one-subtask assignment: different agent members may perform different subtasks, multiple agent members may perform the same subtask, one agent member may participate in several subtasks, and these responsibilities may change as execution progresses. During task execution, agent members can take different actions $(a\_{i,t}\in\mathcal{U}\_{\tau,t})$ at execution step $(t)$, where $\mathcal{U}\_{\tau,t}$ represents the actions available to the team at that step. Such actions may include performing a subtask, communicating with other members, sharing contextual information or intermediate results, proposing an approach, requesting feedback, reviewing or critiquing another member’s work, comparing competing results, debating a decision, revising an intermediate result, coordinating subsequent actions, or contributing to the final task result. The agent team therefore represents an interaction-intensive form of task execution in which multiple agent members contribute through potentially different, overlapping, or changing responsibilities while collaboratively pursuing completion of the same target task.
Conditions for an Agent Team to Hold
An agent team $(\mathcal{A}\_{\tau})$ should hold when a single target task $(\tau)$ is performed through the coordinated participation of multiple agent members $(A\_1,A\_2,\ldots,A\_n)$ and can be decomposed into or operationally involve multiple subtasks $(\tau\_1,\tau\_2,\ldots,\tau\_m)$. At least two agent members should meaningfully participate in task execution, with each participating member contributing through one or more assigned, selected, or dynamically determined subtasks or roles rather than merely existing as an inactive agent instance. Their actions $(a\_{i,t})$ should contribute to the progression, evaluation, coordination, or refinement of the shared task, and the members should have opportunities for substantive interaction, such as exchanging information and intermediate results, reviewing or critiquing one another’s work, proposing alternatives, resolving disagreements, coordinating dependencies, or jointly refining results. The mapping between agent members, roles, subtasks, and actions may remain flexible and change over execution steps $(t)$ according to the current task state $(s\_t)$, available information $(I\_t)$, environmental conditions $(E\_t)$, and relevant background context $(C\_t)$. Accordingly, an agent team is distinguished from a simple collection of independently operating agents by the presence of a shared target task, meaningful participation by multiple agent members, task-level coordination, and collaborative interactions through which one member’s actions or intermediate results can influence the subsequent actions, decisions, or results of other members.