AI Assistants, AI Agents, Platforms, and Tools

What’s What and How They Relate in 2025
Understanding What AI Assistants, AI Agents, Platforms, and Tools Are in the Context of GeneXus Next, Globant Enterprise AI, and Globant Coda
 

Context and Objective

In 2024, we wrote about the differences between Agents, Assistants, Platforms, and Tools to clarify how we were using these concepts, given that the definitions weren’t yet fully established in the market.

In 2025, terms like “AI Assistants,” “AI Agents,” “Platforms,” and “Tools” continue to be used ambiguously, even though we all use them more than ever.

With the experience gained from building platforms like GeneXus Next (agentic Low-Code), Globant Enterprise AI (AI-driven enterprise governance and innovation), and Globant CODA (specialized agent suite), we can now clarify these concepts with precision.

This document updates and simplifies previous definitions, providing a practical taxonomy to clearly distinguish between:
 

• Platforms: When is something truly a platform?
• Tools: What is and what isn’t a tool?
• Assistants: What is their real scope?
• Agents and agentic systems: What makes them different?

At the same time, it aims to help determine in which contexts we can attempt to market one or the other. Even though in the market the line between assistants, copilots, agents, agentic processes, and platforms is still blurry, we need to have clarity in order to explain, build, and sell coherently.

Let’s explore those differences.

AI Assistants, AI Agents, Platforms, and Tools: Definitions and Taxonomy 2025

By 2025, simply mentioning terms like assistants, agents, tools, or platforms without clarity is no longer enough. We need to precisely understand what each one means, its purpose, how they differ from each other, and how they connect within our solutions.

This section establishes a clear taxonomy based on the specific role they play in building intelligent systems:

1. AI Assistants: Personal Productivity Tools

AI assistants are personal productivity tools that enhance a person’s cognitive, creative, or technical capacity. As Steve Jobs imagined personal computers - "bicycles for the mind" - they multiply what a person can achieve severalfold.
 

• They help you write, code, design, understand, learn, etc.
• Sometimes they complete small tasks; other times, they guide you through more complex ones.
• They’re designed to collaborate with people but do not make decisions on their own (they have no operational autonomy).

Examples:
 

• A modeling assistant in GeneXus Next.
• A copilot in a design tool.
• A custom enterprise chatbot to help you navigate internal documentation.

   

2. AI Agents: Automation with Business Purpose

When we talk about agents, we mean AI systems designed to perform tasks within a business context, with varying degrees of autonomy. They help transform how a company operates: automating tasks, orchestrating workflows, learning from processes and making decisions, or collaborating with other agents and people, within a governance framework defined by a platform.

Note that when we use the word agent, we’re often using it as an umbrella term that includes both individual agents, the agentic systems that contain them, and agentic workflows where they collaborate with each other or with humans.

These agents:
 

• Have a specific purpose and may make decisions on their own.
• Perform complex tasks: reading, deciding, operating, recording, reporting.
• Interact with other systems, people, and agents.
• May remain active for hours, days, or weeks.
• Require platforms like Globant Enterprise AI for integration, orchestration, governance, and evolution.

Examples:

• Code Fixer AI Agent that analyzes repositories and fixes programming bugs.
• An agent that interprets requirement specs and works with another to transform those specs into GeneXus knowledge bases.
• The entire Globant CODA suite, where agents hand off artifacts to each other to complete different stages of the development flow.

 

3. Tools

Tools are specific components designed to solve specific tasks (connecting to a system, sending a message, generating an artifact, etc.). They have no autonomy or context of their own; they always depend on whoever uses them (a person, an agent, or a platform).

• They don’t make decisions or interpret context.
• They perform clearly limited and specific tasks.
• They can be intelligent (AI-based) or not.

Examples:
 

• GXtest for test automation.
• PDF parsers or RESTful APIs.

 

4. Platforms

Platforms are comprehensive technological infrastructures that allow for the orchestration and management of complex cycles for creating and evolving enterprise solutions. They go beyond isolated applications or specific tools, integrating multiple components such as assistants, agents, and tools in a cohesive environment. They are programmable and extensible by definition, which sets them apart from mere products.
 

• Manage complete processes, from creation to evolution.
• Orchestrate assistants and agents according to specific needs.
• Enable monitoring, scaling, and integrated governance.

Examples:
 

• GeneXus Next: a platform for modeling, deterministic generation, testing, and creating intelligent software with embedded assistants and agents.
• Globant Enterprise AI (GEAI): a platform for creating, governing, and scaling solutions based on enterprise assistants and agents. GEAI is the underlying platform that enables Generative AI in both GeneXus Next and Globant CODA.

 

Platforms in Action: Real Use Cases with GeneXus Next, GEAI, and CODA

Clear definitions are not enough. Let’s see how these components come to life in real situations, solving specific business challenges through the strategic combination of Platforms, Agents, Assistants, and Tools.

Case 1: Secure Modernization of Legacy Systems with Globant Enterprise AI and GeneXus Next

Client type:

Medium-sized bank with a critical system on outdated technology (e.g., PL/I).

Pain points:

• Lack of skilled developers for maintenance.
• High risk and cost of rebuilding the system from scratch.

Solution:
Integration between Globant Enterprise AI (GEAI) and GeneXus Next to modernize the system while preserving business knowledge.

Process flow

1. Interpretation and analysis (GEAI)

• A GEAI agent analyzes legacy code, documentation, and comments.
• Extracts business rules, processes, and critical structures from the original system.

2. Human validation

• Internal analysts or experts interact to validate or correct extracted information.
• A clear and precise formal specification is generated.

3. Conversion to GeneXus Next model

• A specialized GEAI agent transforms these specifications into GeneXus Next models: data structures, processes, business rules, interface logic.

4. Deterministic generation of the new system

• From the model, GeneXus Next automatically generates modern code (frontend, backend, APIs, security).
• The result is an updated system without losing key business knowledge.

Final value:
The company gets a renewed, flexible, and scalable system in much less time than with manual development. Also, critical knowledge remains preserved in a technology-independent model, ensuring easy adaptation to future technologies.
 

Case 2: Increasing Efficiency in a Manual Development Process with CODA

Client type:

Large company with traditional development teams (full-stack, testers, analysts).

Pain points:
 

• Slow processes, frequent errors, costly rework.
• Desire to introduce incremental improvements without major disruptions.

Solution:

Incremental use of specific CODA agents integrated into the existing cycle to accelerate processes without replacing the human team.

Practical operation:

1. Product definition agent

• Team describes requirements in natural language.
• The agent automatically generates user stories, identifies key entities, and produces structured documentation.
  Reduces manual analysis and initial ambiguity.

2. Application Design Agent

• Turns user stories into clear wireframes, navigation structure, and functional flows.
  Provides a concrete foundation for design and frontend, speeding up visual creation.

 
3. Backend Prototyper Agent

• Quickly generates a preliminary functional backend (mock or real), RESTful APIs, and initial databases.
  The technical team can focus on special cases instead of repetitive tasks. Can use GeneXus Next to easily evolve and integrate this prototype.

 
4. Automated Test Agent

• Automatically creates tests based on requirements, covering edge cases and critical scenarios.
• Executes validations and reports results directly to the team.

 
5. Code Fixer Agent

• Detects code errors or fixes reported errors.
• Suggests contextual corrections or applies them automatically.

The company achieves significant acceleration, fewer recurring errors, and frees up time for strategic tasks without replacing its existing team.
 

How Do CODA, GEAI, and GeneXus Next Interact in These Solutions?

Both cases clearly show practical interaction:
 

• Globant Enterprise AI (GEAI) acts as the base platform for governance, analysis, and initial creation of specialized assistants and agents.

 

• GeneXus Next transforms validated specifications into deterministic models and generates modern, robust, and evolving systems, with AI assistants and agents automatically integrated and governed by GEAI.

 

• Globant CODA integrates specific GEAI agents into development flows to resolve specific stages, from initial definition to final validation, accelerating the entire cycle.

Thus, each platform brings unique and complementary value:
 

• GEAI brings rapid adoption and AI-driven innovation in companies, with control, scalability, and governance.

 

• GeneXus Next provides deterministic code generation for reliable enterprise systems, creation of flexible agents, and reusable knowledge models.

 

• Globant CODA adds incremental flexibility in processes, through specific agents inserted into existing flows.

These combinations not only solve specific problems, but also show how starting with small solutions can scale to complete platforms, maximizing each investment.

So, when do we offer each solution? When is a specific tool, an agent, or the entire platform appropriate?

Let’s explore a quick commercial guide,to help answer these questions strategically and maximize our impact for each client.
 

Quick Commercial Guide: When to Offer Platforms, Agents, Assistants, or Tools?

Understanding the difference between Platforms, Agents, Assistants, and Tools is key, but knowing when to offer each one is essential to maximize commercial and operational effectiveness. Here’s a quick guide to help you choose strategically:

When to Offer a Complete Platform

(GeneXus Next or Globant Enterprise AI)

Offer platforms when:
 

• The client is willing to undertake a significant, structural transformation of their business or development processes.

 

• A comprehensive solution is sought that covers a full cycle (e.g., automatic generation and automatic evolution of software).

 

• The company has the scale, infrastructure, and willingness to manage a cohesive, robust, and evolving solution for the long term.

 

• There is internal strategic commitment to adopt advanced technologies such as AI, agents, or low-code as foundational pillars.

Ideal examples:
 

• Medium or large companies undergoing deep technological modernization.
• Companies seeking to significantly scale their operational or innovative capacity.

 

When to Offer Specific Agents

(CODA or specific GEAI Agents)


Offer agents when:
 

• The client wants to improve specific processes incrementally, without radical changes to their current infrastructure.

 

• There are well-defined, specific problems that can quickly benefit from intelligent automation.

 

• The company has well-established processes needing extra efficiency or immediate reduction in errors, time, or cost.

 

• The client is open to innovation but prefers to move in controlled stages, measuring impact progressively.

Ideal examples:
 

• Traditional development teams looking to increase speed and reduce rework (CODA).

 

• Support departments needing specific automation (e.g., automatic document processing).

 

When to Offer Individual Assistants

(Assistants integrated into GeneXus Next or specific assistants)


Offer assistants when:
 

• The goal is to directly improve the client’s personal or individual productivity.

 

• There’s a need to reduce the learning curve or improve efficiency in individual tasks (writing, coding, designing, consulting).

 

• The client isn’t yet ready for autonomous solutions and prefers to work with tools that directly amplify their personal capabilities.
• There’s a specific and immediate need for efficiency in a particular task or role.

Ideal examples:
 

• Developers or designers needing assistants to speed up rapid creation and validation (GeneXus Next Assistant).

 

• Companies needing smart chatbots for internal documentation (custom RAGs).

 

From Understanding Concepts to Building Intelligent Solutions

In 2024, our goal was to clearly name each piece: assistants, agents, platforms, and tools. In 2025, we not only name them, but integrate and execute. We’ve gone from classifying AI to creating real solutions with it.


The key difference remains clear:
 

• Assistants to amplify people.
• Agents to amplify business systems.
• Tools to solve specific tasks quickly.
• Platforms to manage and scale entire cycles, end to end.

Today, we have real platforms - GeneXus Next, Globant Enterprise AI and CODA - that not only let us use AI, but also make it possible to build intelligent, robust, secure, and evolvable enterprise systems. It’s no longer about introducing artificial intelligence, but about creating truly intelligent, governed, and scalable systems.

But this isn’t a distant future, it’s our tangible present: we’re already making it happen, right now.

This document not only offers a taxonomy and a commercial guide; it’s an open invitation to keep innovating, building, and transforming together. Because what matters now isn’t just understanding AI, but making AI work strategically for us and our clients.

The next step is yours: Discover GeneXus Next and Globant Enterprise AI and unlock speed and intelligence for your company’s software.