The Frontier of Agentic AI
Session Overview
Many people still think of AI agents as programs that simply execute commands. In reality, they perceive context, interpret goals, and autonomously decide and act—much closer to intelligent actors than scripts.
At Manus, a General AI Agent is a versatile AI partner that collaborates with humans across domains rather than being confined to a single task. It is grounded in three principles: Intention Understanding, Reasoning & Planning, and Self-Improvement.
This talk explores three core areas of Agentic AI: Atomic Capabilities (the minimal loop that composes agent behavior—observe → reason → act → learn), Architectural Features (how multiple agents collaborate to solve complex problems), and Proactive Agency (agents that set their own goals and act autonomously).
We will also discuss how these shifts affect the real world—changing how we think and redefining collaboration. AI agents are no longer mere tools; they are collaborative partners that think and make decisions with us. Ultimately, AI agents help us push beyond human limits, explore new frontiers, and expand our abilities and imagination.
Tao Zhang, Co-founder of Manus AI, will present these concepts and share the company’s vision live on stage.
Speaker
Tao Zhang is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer (CPO) of Manus AI, the world’s first general AI agent bridging thought and action. Tao brings deep expertise in product leadership, having previously driven product innovation at ByteDance, Light Year (Meituan), and Sensors Data.
A globally recognized voice in the AI space, Tao is a sought-after evangelist for generative AI, actively sharing his insights through social media (@hidecloud) and on stages around the world. His thought leadership has been featured at premier international platforms including Google I/O, Anthropic’s Code with Claude, SuperAI, VivaTech, Raise Summit, and at leading academic institutions such as Stanford, Harvard, and MIT. He is also at the forefront of Manus community events across Singapore, London, Sydney, Tokyo, San Francisco, New York, and beyond.