Agentic AI Foundations: Business Applications and Risks

Evaluate agents that plan, call tools and perform multi-step tasks in professional workflows.

Curriculum

LLMs as the foundation for agent reasoning and planning.
Task decomposition, tool use and business applications.
Human oversight, reliability, data exposure and governance.

Before you start

No application required; English proficiency and participation in coursework expected.

Who it suits

Our assessment, based on the syllabus.

Operations manager

Identify which multi-step processes an agent could support.

Executive or transformation lead

Evaluate proposals for automation and human oversight.

Senior individual contributor

Understand how agents could extend everyday AI use.

Expected outcomes

Identify tasks that may suit an agent.
Decide where an agent needs human approval.
Discuss tool use and planning with the people building the system.

Example application

Decide which steps of a reporting workflow can be delegated and which need approval.

Limits

Primarily evaluation and application, not agent engineering.
Certificate requires completion; it is not a degree or professional licence.

How current is it?

Current syllabus explicitly covers tool-enabled agentic systems. Part of Harvard's 2026 AI Leadership Series.

When to choose it

Consider this if you need to assess agent proposals or decide how much autonomy to allow. Choose a programming course if you need to implement the agents yourself.

Sources

Official course, dates and certificate ↗harvardonline.harvard.edu
2026 AI learning context ↗harvardonline.harvard.edu

Checked 20 October 2026. Confirm the current offer on the provider’s page before paying.