- Agentic AI can be understood through two contrasting modes: greenhouse (diffuse growth) and lens (focused ignition), both powered by 'sunlight' or AI capabilities.
- Greenhouse mode is ideal for exploration when goals are unclear, allowing many tools or ideas to grow simultaneously, with low cost enabling experimentation and post-hoc evaluation.
- Lens mode involves concentrating effort on a well-defined target, discarding non-essential proposals, and is useful for precise execution when 'done' is clear.
- Neither mode is inherently superior; they serve different purposes, and mismatching mode to task causes frustration with agentic AI.