Definition
Plain language
An open-source framework for orchestrating teams of AI agents with named roles.
As stated in the literature
A Python framework for building multi-agent LLM systems with explicit role and task abstractions, commonly used in hierarchical agent deployments.
Why it matters: It's a common starting point for teams building multi-agent applications, so its abstractions shape how a lot of production agent systems are structured.
For example, a CrewAI script defines a 'researcher' agent, a 'writer' agent, and a 'fact-checker' agent and routes a task through them in sequence.
Heard on the show
“So this is the deployment shape — frameworks like AutoGen, CrewAI, LangGraph, all standard plumbing for building hierarchical agent products that are shipping today.”Episode 058 — Why Upgrading Your AI Auditor to a Smarter Model Can Make Your System Less Safe