Designing and Building AI Agent Applications

AI agents are transforming how we interact with technology, moving beyond simple chatbots to autonomous systems that can plan, use tools, and collaborate. Understanding how to design and orchestrate these agents is becoming an essential skill for modern developers and technology enthusiasts. This text-only course guides you from foundational AI concepts to designing fully functional multi-agent systems. You will learn how to structure agentic workflows, integrate external tools, and handle the real-world engineering challenges of agent reliability and evaluation. What you will learn: Understand the core architecture of AI agents, including planning, memory, and tool execution; Compare modern orchestration frameworks to choose the right architecture for your project; Implement tool calling and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to connect agents to external data; Design multi-agent collaboration workflows where specialized agents work together to solve complex tasks; Address common engineering challenges such as infinite loops, state management, and cost optimization; Evaluate agent performance and reliability using modern observability concepts. The course begins with essential terminology, exploring what makes an AI agent distinct from traditional software or simple language models. You will then progress step-by-step through orchestration frameworks, tool integration patterns, and multi-agent design, completing written conceptual exercises to reinforce your learning. Designed for beginners, software developers, and technology professionals who want to understand the AI agent landscape, this course requires no advanced AI or machine learning background. Start reading today to build your first autonomous agent system.