What is Agent Orchestration?
Agent orchestration is the high-level management and coordination of AI agents, tools, tasks, application state, permissions, and execution order within a complex system.
How does it work?
An orchestrator acts as the central controller. When a user provides a complex goal, the orchestrator breaks it down into a plan, selects the right agents or tools for each step, manages the data passed between them, and monitors the overall progress until the goal is met.
What is it commonly confused with?
Distinguish orchestration from:
- A single AI agent operating independently.
- A static workflow or pipeline containing no autonomous decision-making.
- A communication standard such as the Agent-to-Agent (A2A) protocol.
Why does it matter?
As AI solutions move from simple chatbots to enterprise-grade automation, orchestration is essential to ensure reliability, enforce safety constraints, manage resources efficiently, and handle errors gracefully when multiple components interact.