What are AI agents and what business tasks do they perform?
AI Agents are autonomous, task-specialized teammates within the Hoop platform. They execute complex, multi-step workflows with configured access and goals. They are designed to automate repetitive, time-consuming work, allowing your human team to focus on high-value interactions. This feature is ideal for marketing, sales, service, and operations teams looking to scale efficiency without increasing headcount.
These agents manage a variety of end-to-end processes, improving overall productivity. Examples of their specialized roles include:
- Prospecting: Researching accounts and drafting personalized outreach.
- Customer Service: Resolving common inquiries instantly and accurately.
- Knowledge Base Management: Identifying content gaps and drafting help articles.
How do AI agents differ from standard AI assistants in the Hoop platform?
AI Agents and assistants serve different purposes within Hoop. Assistants are primarily tools that help individual users with creation and analysis, often focusing on single-step tasks or information retrieval for a single person. They support the individual user's immediate needs.
Agents, in contrast, carry out defined, end-to-end business processes. They are designed for collaboration and continuous operation. They have clear goals, manage handoffs between steps, and operate within your established platform and CRM context. They handle large-scale, automated tasks autonomously to drive measurable business outcomes.
What is the process for setting up and deploying new AI agents?
Deploying AI Agents is a straightforward process managed within the dedicated Studio environment in Hoop. This structured approach ensures they align perfectly with your operations before they go live, maximizing immediate time-to-value.
The typical setup involves a few critical steps:
- Discover and install the desired agent from the Hoop marketplace.
- Configure behavior, define the agent's brand voice, and set up approval flows.
- Define necessary data access permissions and establish robust guardrails to match your internal governance models.
Initial value is realized quickly, typically within days of deployment, as agents immediately take on repetitive work.
How can my organization maintain control and governance over agent actions?
Hoop ensures you maintain strict human control and governance over all AI Agent activities. The platform uses guardrails that allow you to define precisely where humans must review and when agents can act completely autonomously. This balances efficiency with accountability and security.
Control is managed through several mechanisms:
- Adjustable permissions and data access controls.
- Mandatory review steps for sensitive or complex actions.
- Clear visibility into all agent actions and measurable outcomes.
This systematic approach mitigates risk and allows you to iterate quickly as performance data is collected and analyzed, ensuring agents always operate within defined boundaries.
Do AI agents learn and improve their performance over time?
Yes, AI Agents are designed for continuous improvement and learning within the Hoop ecosystem. They are not static tools; their performance and efficiency increase the more they are used and the more feedback they receive.
This ongoing refinement is driven by robust data loops:
- Built-in analytics track productivity and quality metrics consistently.
- Feedback loops allow you to refine prompts, update rules, and introduce new training sources.
- Usage insights help you identify the most effective agents for scaling across your organization.
By learning from real outcomes, the agents become increasingly tailored and effective at driving specific business results for your team.
Which Hoop pricing plans include access to AI agent functionality?
The AI Agents feature is available across multiple pricing tiers within the Hoop platform to accommodate businesses of various sizes and needs. This ensures that essential automation capabilities are accessible, whether you are a growing business or a large enterprise.
The feature is included in the following Hoop pricing plans:
- Core: Provides a foundational set of agent capabilities.
- Pro: Offers expanded agent capacity and advanced customization options.
- Enterprise: Includes full access to all specialized agents and dedicated support for custom deployments and deep integrations.
Usage limits and specific agent availability may vary by plan. Customers on Pro and Enterprise tiers benefit from greater capacity and enhanced control features.
How are customer data and security handled when using AI agents?
Security and data governance are paramount when using AI Agents in Hoop. Agents operate within defined access limits that you configure, ensuring they only interact with the data necessary for their specific tasks. They function entirely within your platform and CRM context.
Key security practices include:
- Data access is permission-based and strictly controlled by the user in Studio.
- Actions are subject to approval flows and guardrails to prevent unauthorized use.
- Clear audit trails provide visibility into every agent action and outcome.
The platform adheres to industry standards for data handling and privacy, giving you confidence that sensitive customer and business data remain protected while automation is underway.