AI MarketingVideo Blog3 min read
Episode 134 of Brains Bots and Business, "Stop Saying Prompt: The 4 AI Terms You Need to Know", is above. Here's the written version.
If you're still talking about "prompts" and "chatbots" in your marketing meetings, Sandeep says, you're speaking a dead language. His view is that typing one sentence into a web browser and waiting for a reply is giving way to autonomous desktop agents: AI workers that can read your local files, control your screen and run unattended.
To manage them, you need a new vocabulary. The four terms are Plan, Goal, Loop and Subagents.
Key takeaways
- Plan: the step-by-step blueprint the agent creates before it acts, which you review and approve.
- Goal: the finish line, a specific "done condition" that tells the agent when to stop.
- Loop: an automated task that repeats on a schedule, safe only with checks at every step.
- Subagents: specialized helper agents that split a project and work in parallel.
Sandeep's line: knowing this lingo is the difference between being a spectator and an operator.
What is an AI plan?
A plan is the step-by-step blueprint your AI creates before it takes action or touches a single file. It is not a prompt.
Review it and you expose the agent's assumptions and approve the route before anything happens. For the full story, read Stop Prompting, Start Planning.
What is an AI goal?
If the plan is the route, the goal is the finish line. A goal is a highly specific "done condition" that tells the agent exactly when to stop working.
Agents can run for hours, so a strict definition of success is how you stop one burning through your budget. More in Why Vague AI Goals Waste Your Budget.
What is an AI loop?
A loop is an automated task that repeats at scheduled intervals, such as triaging a shared customer service inbox every hour.
Sandeep's advice: a loop is only safe if you build in verification checks at every step, so small errors don't compound over time.
What are AI subagents?
Subagents are specialized helper agents. Instead of asking one AI to do a massive project, you divide the work and they run in parallel, like a marketing team. As an example, one writes the copy, another edits it for brand voice and a third researches the competitors. That set-up can act as a built-in check on the work.
Details and a full example are in AI Subagents: Deploy a Digital Team.
Plans, Goals, Loops and Subagents. Master the vocabulary, and you master the technology.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an AI plan and an AI goal?
The plan is the route the agent takes. The goal is the finish line: a specific done condition that tells it when to stop.
What is an AI loop?
An automated task that repeats at scheduled intervals, like triaging an inbox every hour. Build in verification checks at every step.
What are AI subagents?
Specialized helper agents that divide a project among them and work in parallel.
Related links
- Watch the episode on YouTube
- Stop Prompting, Start Planning: AI Plan Mode
- Why Vague AI Goals Waste Your Budget
- AI Subagents: Deploy a Digital Team
- More AI terms: 5 AI Terms Every Sales & Marketing Team Needs to Know
Brains Bots and Business is where Sandeep shows you how to actually use AI to grow your company.
Sandbox Media is a marketing and AI agency in Milton, Ontario, serving businesses across the GTA and Canada.