Bridges 2026: How Schools Are Putting AI Agents to Work
# Bridges 2026: How Schools Are Putting AI Agents to Work ## K-12 and higher education leaders alike are using agentic AI capable of carrying out complex tasks, though they remain cautious about granting the tools access to sensitive systems and data. NEW YORK CITY — Agentic AI has quickly become one of education’s most talked-about technologies, but relatively few school districts and colleges have deployed [AI agents in day-to-day operations](https://www.govtech.com/education/higher-ed/ai-agents-in-education-whats-working-and-whats-missing). ### DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN AN AGENT AND A CHATBOT Joe Siedlecki, chief impact officer at Amira Learning, an ed-tech company that builds AI-powered reading coaches and literacy screening tools, offered a distinction: A real AI agent makes [decisions in service of a specific goal](https://www.govtech.com/artificial-intelligence/what-is-agentic-ai-a-look-at-new-tech-reshaping-government), whereas a chatbot just responds to prompts.