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AI EngineeringPro

Build the machinery around an agent loop.

Building AI Agents

Implement tool use, planning, reflection, memory, multi-agent coordination, evaluation, and guardrails around a deterministic model stand-in.

What you will leave with

You can separate model reasoning from the orchestration, permissions, state, and tests that make an agent system dependable.

Modules
8
Duration
~9 hours
Level
Intermediate to Advanced
Access
Module 1 free
  • Helpwell support agent throughline
  • Real loop, faked LLM
  • ReAct → planning → memory → multi-agent
  • Runnable in-browser Python

What you will be able to do

What this course prepares you to do.

The curriculum is organized around these 4 practical outcomes.

Implement and trace an agent loop

Design typed tools and validate calls

Add planning, reflection, and memory deliberately

Evaluate multi-step behavior and enforce guardrails

Curriculum

Every module earns the next one.

Open a module to inspect every section before you start. Your progress follows you through the course.

01
Module 1

From Chatbot to Agent: The Loop

BeginnerFree preview

Chatbot vs agent, The agent loop, Model + Tools + Instructions, and more.

View 5 sections
  1. 1Chatbot vs Agent: Who Owns the Plumbing
  2. 2The Agent Loop: Perceive, Reason, Act, Observe, Stop
  3. 3The Three Parts: Model, Tools, Instructions
  4. 4The Model Decides, Your Code Acts
  5. 5Why a Stop Rule Is Non-Negotiable
65 min5 sections
Open module
02
Module 2

Hands: Tool Use & Structured Outputs

BeginnerPro

Function calling, Structured outputs, ReAct, and more.

View 5 sections
  1. 1The Tool-Use Contract: Name, Args, Id
  2. 2The Model Picks; Your Code Presses the Button
  3. 3Structured Outputs: Schema-Valid Arguments
  4. 4ReAct: Thought, Action, Observation
  5. 5The Tool Description Is the Biggest Lever
70 min5 sections
Open module
03
Module 3

Thinking Ahead: Planning & Decomposition

IntermediatePro

Decomposition, Plan-and-Solve, Step dependencies, and more.

View 5 sections
  1. 1What a Plan Is: One Goal, Ordered Steps
  2. 2Plan-and-Solve: Think First, Then Do
  3. 3Dependencies: Refund the Id You Just Found
  4. 4Plan, Observe, Re-Plan
  5. 5Decompose-First vs Decide-as-You-Go
70 min5 sections
Open module
04
Module 4

Second Drafts: Reflection & Self-Correction

IntermediatePro

Self-Refine, Reflexion, CRITIC, and more.

View 5 sections
  1. 1The First Answer Is a Draft
  2. 2Self-Refine: Localized, Actionable Feedback
  3. 3Reflexion: Turn Failure Into a Written Lesson
  4. 4CRITIC: Check Against an External Rule
  5. 5The Evaluator–Optimizer Loop, and When to Stop
70 min5 sections
Open module
05
Module 5

Memory: Giving the Agent a Past

IntermediatePro

Statelessness, Context window, Virtual memory (MemGPT), and more.

View 5 sections
  1. 1Statelessness: A Consultant With Amnesia
  2. 2The Finite Window and Context Rot
  3. 3Virtual Memory: RAM vs Disk
  4. 4Self-Editing Memory Blocks
  5. 5Scored Recall: Recency, Importance, Relevance
70 min5 sections
Open module
06
Module 6

A Team of Agents: Multi-Agent Systems

AdvancedPro

Handoffs, Supervisor / orchestrator-workers, Shared state, and more.

View 5 sections
  1. 1Handoffs: Transfer Control to a Specialist
  2. 2The Supervisor: Orchestrator and Workers
  3. 3Shared State: The Message Bus
  4. 4Roles, SOPs, and Debate
  5. 5The Honest Tradeoff: Cost and the Single-Writer Rule
70 min5 sections
Open module
07
Module 7

Does It Actually Work? Evaluation

AdvancedPro

Outcome vs trajectory eval, Task success rate, pass^k reliability, and more.

View 5 sections
  1. 1Measure, Don't Eyeball
  2. 2Outcome Eval: Grade the Final State
  3. 3Trajectory Eval: Grade the Path
  4. 4Task Success and pass^k Reliability
  5. 5LLM-as-Judge and Its Biases
70 min5 sections
Open module
08
Module 8

Trust & Ship: Guardrails, Safety & the 2026 Frontier

AdvancedPro

Caps & sandboxing, Human-in-the-loop, Prompt injection, and more.

View 5 sections
  1. 1Caps and Sandboxes: The Circuit Breaker
  2. 2Human-in-the-Loop for High-Impact Actions
  3. 3Prompt Injection and the Lethal Trifecta
  4. 4The Rule of Two
  5. 5The 2026 Frontier: MCP, Computer Use, Agentic RAG
70 min5 sections
Open module

Who this course is for

Built for people who need to use the skill.

Start with the background you have. The prerequisite notes above tell you exactly what is assumed.

01

Engineers building tool-using AI systems

02

AI product teams reviewing agent architecture

03

Developers moving beyond chat interfaces

Start the course

Begin with From Chatbot to Agent: The Loop.

Module 1 introduces the language and example used throughout the rest of the course.

Open Module 1
Building AI Agents | Let's Data Science | Let's Data Science