Agentic RAG

Agent-driven retrieval and reasoning

Q: What is Agentic RAG?

Agentic RAG combines autonomous AI agents with retrieval-augmented generation. Instead of a single retrieve-then-answer step, an agent plans, decides which sources and tools to use, runs multiple retrievals, reasons across steps and verifies the answer.

Q: How is Agentic RAG different from standard RAG?

Standard RAG performs a single retrieval and generation pass. Agentic RAG adds planning, tool use, multi-step retrieval, query decomposition and self-checking — making it better suited to complex, multi-part or ambiguous questions.

Q: When should we use Agentic RAG?

Use Agentic RAG when questions require combining multiple sources, breaking a query into sub-questions, taking actions, or verifying and reconciling information — scenarios where a single retrieval pass is not enough.

Q: What technology powers Agentic RAG?

We build agentic RAG on Azure AI Search, Azure OpenAI and agent frameworks, orchestrating tools, connectors and Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, with evaluation and guardrails throughout.

Agentic RAG goes beyond a single retrieve-then-answer step. AI agents plan, choose the right sources and tools, run multiple retrievals, reason across steps and verify results — so you can answer complex, multi-part questions with confidence.

Discuss Agentic RAG About Enterprise RAG

What makes RAG agentic

Planning, tool use and reasoning layered on top of retrieval.

Planning & Decomposition

Break complex questions into sub-questions and plan the steps needed to answer them accurately.

Iterative Retrieval

Run multiple, targeted retrievals across sources rather than a single pass, refining as it learns more.

Tool & Connector Use

Call APIs, connectors and MCP servers to fetch live data and take actions as part of answering.

Multi-Source Reasoning

Combine and reconcile information from several systems to produce a coherent, complete answer.

Self-Verification

Check and cite answers, reducing hallucinations and increasing trust in complex scenarios.

Governed & Evaluated

Guardrails, evaluation and monitoring keep agentic behaviour accurate, safe and compliant.

Related AI services

Pair agentic RAG with agents and platform AI.

Enterprise RAG

Foundational retrieval-augmented generation grounded in your data.

AI Agent Development

Conversational and autonomous agents grounded in your data.

AI for Dynamics 365

Copilot and AI agents across Dynamics 365 apps.

AI for Power Platform

AI Builder, Copilot and intelligent automation.

Answer your hardest questions with Agentic RAG

MSDC designs agentic RAG solutions that plan, retrieve and reason across your systems to deliver accurate, verifiable answers.

Talk to an AI expert About Enterprise RAG