AI Agents: Theory and Practice

New4 hours18 learnersBeta
Learn how AI agents are built and how they work in practice. This course covers the core principles behind LLM-based agents — how they think, act, and observe — and guides you through creating your own using Python.
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What you'll learn

By completing this course, you will:

  • Understand how LLM agents operate.

  • Build and experiment with your own Python-based AI agents.

  • Learn effective context and memory management techniques.

  • Explore grounding methods and multi-agent system design.

  • Gain practical experience for developing advanced AI-powered tools.

Note: This course assumes prior knowledge of core Python topics, including variables, control flow, functions, and basic data structures. Some experience with the OpenAI API will also be useful. If you need to review these skills, we recommend taking the "Python Fundamentals with Practical Projects" course first.

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Learn by doing

# 1
Apply knowledge into practice
You already know the theory. Now it's time to code like you do at work—in a professional IDE, with real project constraints, solving problems that actually matter. Welcome to software engineering as it should be.
# 2
Navigate complexity with surgical precision
Most developers waste months learning random concepts without seeing how they connect. Our interactive Knowledge Map fixes this. It shows exactly how every programming concept relates to others, helping you build a structured mental model of coding.
# 3
Copy the best. Then improve.
Here's what top engineers do that others don't: they study other people's code obsessively. When you get stuck on Hyperskill, you can explore solutions published by other developers. See their exact code. Understand their approach. Learn their tricks.
# 4
Code review that actually makes you better
We stripped code review down to what actually matters: does your solution work? Have you handled the edge cases? Is there a cleaner way to write this? Hyperskill acts like a competent reviewer who actually tests your code. Not genius-level analysis, not architecture debates — just solid feedback on making your code better.

Elevate your engineering mastery through real-world challenges

Master advanced engineering concepts through ambitious projects. Each project deepens your expertise and transforms you from an experienced engineer into an exceptional one.

Applied Memory for Agents

AI assistants become far more useful when they can remember things and act on them. In this project, you will build your own personal AI task assistant that maintains conversation context, stores information across sessions, and uses tools to create, search, and update tasks. Instead of just answering questions, your assistant will recall user details, track progress, and help manage daily to-dos — just like a real productivity companion.

Graduate

Customer Support with Multi-Agent System

In this project, you'll build a customer support system made up of multiple AI agents working together. A manager agent reviews each support ticket and assigns it to the right specialist — whether it's for technical issues, billing questions, or account management. Through this hands-on project, you'll see how AI agents can cooperate, share tasks, and solve problems as a team.

Graduate

Butler Agent

AI agents can do more than just answer questions—they can actually help you with tasks. This project helps you build a simple but useful AI butler that works autonomously. Give it access to tools like checking the weather and managing a wardrobe, and watch it complete multi-step tasks on its own. No more single-question chatbots—see how AI can chain actions together to be genuinely helpful!

Graduate

Explore all projects

Topics covered by this course

Memory management in agents
5 topics
The agent loop
4 topics
Multi-agent systems
3 topics
Introduction to agents
1 topic

Learn from the industry experts

JetBrains Academy

JetBrains Academy

JetBrains Academy is a part of JetBrains, a global software company specializing in the creation of intelligent, productivity-enhancing tools for software developers and teams. With years of expertise in software development and education, JetBrains Academy empowers more than a million people worldwide to learn and teach computer science, and help organizations inspire their teams to reach their goals in tech. Professional development tools play a big role in computer science education. This is why JetBrains Academy courses offer integration with JetBrains IDEs. This integration assists learners in getting experience with real development processes to streamline their learning curve at future work.

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