The DNA of AI Agents

One loop and five dials that define every AI agent, from ChatGPT to autonomous swarms

Every AI agent — from the simplest chatbot to a swarm of autonomous specialists — runs through the same core loop:

• perceive,

• think/plan,

• act,

• remember, and

• learn.

What makes them different are the “design dials” that shape their capabilities.

Agents sense the world (Perceive), decide what to do (Think/Plan), take action (Act/Tools), store experience (Memory), and evolve over time (Learn). This loop repeats endlessly, and upgrading any stage changes what the agent can achieve.

The 5 Dials

These are the levers an architect can turn to design an agent:

1. Perception — how much it can sense.

2. Reasoning Depth — how deeply it thinks.

3. Action Space — what it can do.

4. Memory Strategy — how it remembers.

5. Learning Mode — how it improves.

Turning these dials reshapes the agent’s personality, power, and purpose.

Every agent architecture is just a variation of this loop, shaped by how you set the five dials. The fun part? There’s no single “right” setting — it depends entirely on the problem you’re solving.

If you were building your own AI agent today, which dial would you turn up first — and why?