AI glossary: the terms that matter, in plain language.
GATE's AI glossary defines the terms that come up when a business puts an AI agent to work, from AI agent and agent memory to AI SDR, ticket deflection, sovereign AI and browser agents. Each definition is plain language, says what GATE does with the term, and links to the page where GATE does that job.
What do the AI agent terms mean?
- AI agent
- Software that does a task from start to finish instead of only answering a question. You give it a goal in plain language and it carries out the steps, where a chatbot would only reply. A GATE agent is named by the company that runs it and works across the whole business. Your agents
- Agentic AI
- AI that acts instead of only answering: it plans the steps toward a goal, carries them out and adjusts as it goes. A business runs on agentic AI when its tools do the work rather than draft it for someone else to finish. AI for small business
- AI employee
- An AI agent you brief like a colleague, which does ongoing work for your business instead of one-off answers. With GATE you name it yourself, like Molly or Flippa, and most companies run one, sometimes two. How many agents you need
- AI team
- A name for several AI agents split by job, one for sales, one for support and so on. GATE recommends one named agent working across the whole business instead, sometimes two, so the work runs from one memory of your company rather than a row of single-job bots. Your agents
- AI workforce
- The work AI does for a business across marketing, sales, support and operations. With GATE that is usually one named agent covering those jobs, with a chat for each subject, rather than a separate tool or bot for every role. AI for small business
- Agent memory
- Context that persists and builds up over time, so an AI agent remembers your business across conversations instead of starting from zero every time. Why agents need memory
- Plain-language briefing
- Telling an AI what you want in ordinary words, the way you would brief a colleague, instead of writing careful prompts. You describe the outcome and the agent works out the steps. AI for small business
- Autonomy
- An agent working unattended, finding and finishing work on its own schedule, while you stay in control of anything that ships. The platform
- Autonomy dial
- Per-action control over how much an agent does alone: off, suggest, ask you first, or do it on its own. You raise it per job as trust builds. In GATE an approval means a person pressed it: the agent cannot approve its own work. AI for small business
- Human in the loop
- A way of working where the AI does the work and a person approves what goes out, so you keep control of what ships. The agent proposes and prepares; you review and sign off. The platform
- Model-agnostic AI
- A setup that is not tied to a single AI model or vendor. GATE uses several models, picks one per task and adds a better one when it comes out, so your agent keeps working as the models change. The platform
- Workspace
- In GATE, a named list an organization's owner makes inside the company: the people, agents, chats, files, tasks, repos, mockups and sites that belong together, such as one per client. Being in a workspace lets its people and agents reach what is listed in it. The platform
- Browser agent
- An AI agent that works inside a web browser: it reads a page, clicks, fills in forms and submits them. GATE Companion does this in one tab you switch on, while every other tab stays off. GATE Companion for Google Chrome™
What do the sales, marketing and support terms mean?
- AI for small business
- Giving a small business its own AI agent for the boring half of running a company: the books, contracts, social posts, sales outreach and the support inbox. The output of a team, without hiring one. AI for small business
- AI sales agent
- An AI agent that runs sales outreach on the list you bring: it writes each email for its reader from your playbook, follows up on your rhythm, sorts every reply and books the meeting. In GATE every email waits for a person's approval by default. AI sales agents
- AI SDR
- An AI sales development rep: it emails the contacts you supply, keeps the follow-up rhythm you set, stops the moment a reply lands, reads what the reply means and books the meeting. It works the list you give it rather than inventing prospects. AI sales agents
- Brand-consistent AI
- AI whose writing and look stay on-brand because the rules live in the tools it writes with. In GATE that means approved examples and words to avoid per kind of message, a social brand voice, email signatures and versioned visual assets, read every time. Brand-consistent AI
- Agentic commerce
- Usually AI agents that search and buy on a shopper's behalf. GATE works on the other side of the counter: a store's own agent does the work around the orders, from shopper questions to posts, newsletters, ads and landing pages. AI for ecommerce
- AI support agent
- An AI agent that handles customer support on your site or product. GATE's answers from your own help files, can fill in a form with the customer's consent without ever submitting it, takes bug reports, and a person on your team can take the chat over. AI support agents
- Knowledge base
- The documents an AI agent answers from. GATE's website chat answers from a brief plus help files you give it, in .md or .txt up to 256 KB each, and treats them as the authority, so it knows what you wrote down. AI support agents
- Ticket deflection
- The share of support questions handled before they reach your team. The honest way to raise it is resolution: an agent that answers the question end to end. Tools that only point at a help article lower the count without answering anyone. AI customer support
- Human handoff
- The moment a person takes over a conversation from an AI agent. In GATE's website chat anyone on your team can press Take over, answer as themselves and hand the chat back with Resume AI. AI customer support
- AI onboarding assistant
- An AI agent that helps a new hire from day one. In GATE an owner invites the person, a short setup chat learns their role and how they like to work, and the company's agent answers their questions from company files and memory. AI onboarding portal
- Company brain
- Your business knowledge made answerable where your team already works: an agent connected to your own documents and memory that answers questions in Slack instead of making people dig through folders. AI assistant on Slack
What do the data and trust terms mean?
- Sovereign AI
- AI whose data, operator and rules stay under a jurisdiction and an owner you choose. GATE stores your agent's chats, memory and files in Germany and Finland, is run by Swedish GATE Intelligence, and keeps providers in China and providers that may train off until your owner allows them. Sovereign AI
- EU-resident AI
- AI where the data and the processing stay inside the EU. GATE keeps your data in the EU; in its default setup the AI model calls go to the US under the EU's Standard Contractual Clauses, and an EU-only setup is scoped on request. Sovereign AI
- Data processing agreement (DPA)
- The contract under GDPR Article 28 that sets how a processor handles a customer's personal data. GATE Intelligence publishes its DPA, governed by Swedish law, and a signed copy comes from legal@gate.software. GATE's DPA
What do the building terms mean?
- Codebase map
- A map built from a repository that shows how the code fits together: files, classes and functions, the imports between them and the areas they group into, with file summaries and guided tours. It is rebuilt as the code changes and says how far behind it is. Codebase maps
- Visual editing
- Changing a live web page by pointing at it instead of describing it. GATE opens the page beside the chat, your agent edits text, styles and layout while you watch, and nothing reaches your code until you build it into a pull request or a change list. Visual editing
What is GATE?
- GATE (gate.software)
- The platform this glossary belongs to: your own AI agent for small and mid-sized businesses, built by GATE Intelligence (Gate Intelligence AB, 559592-1395) in Stockholm. Not affiliated with the crypto exchange, the large-model management product, the GATE economic model of AI automation or any other company that shares the name. About GATE Intelligence
See the terms at work.
Straight answers.
What is the difference between an AI agent and a chatbot?
A chatbot answers questions, while an AI agent does the work. GATE's agent takes a goal in plain language and carries out the steps with the tools it is connected to, such as drafting an email for approval, filling in a form or scheduling a post. A chatbot stops at a reply and leaves the work to you.
Does a business need several AI agents?
Usually not. GATE recommends one named agent working across the whole business, sometimes two, rather than a separate agent for every job. One agent keeps one memory of the company and its customers, and each subject gets its own chat, so the agent has the context whichever job you hand it.
What is the difference between an AI SDR and an AI sales agent?
An AI SDR covers the prospecting half of sales: first emails, follow-ups and booking meetings with the contacts you supply. An AI sales agent is the broader term for AI that runs outreach and handles replies. GATE's sales agent does both, with up to 20 touches per contact, and by default every email waits for a person's approval.
What does human in the loop mean for an AI agent?
Human in the loop means a person approves what an AI agent sends out before it goes. In GATE the level is set per action on an autonomy dial: off, suggest, ask you first or do it on its own. An approval only counts when a person pressed it, so GATE's agent can never approve its own work.
What is the difference between ticket deflection and resolution?
Ticket deflection counts support questions that never reach your team, while resolution means the question was actually answered. GATE's support agent aims at resolution by answering from your own help files, and anyone on your team can take over a website chat when a person is needed. A link to a help article can lower ticket counts without helping anyone.
Who writes GATE's AI glossary?
GATE's AI glossary is written by GATE Intelligence, the Swedish company behind GATE, from how GATE's own tools work. Each definition says what GATE does with the term and links to the page where GATE does that job, so the glossary describes what the product does today rather than what the category promises.
Put the terms to work.
Invite only while we onboard a small number of businesses.