Glossary
Digital worker
A workplace label for software, often an agent, that is given a recurring job and returns work for a person to review.
A digital worker, sometimes called an AI employee, is a label for software that a workplace treats as the holder of a recurring job. On the pages checked for this site’s workplace guide, the software is usually an agent: a model, tools, and a harness that can plan steps and hand work back. It is a product setting and a management metaphor. It is not a legal employee, a payroll record, or the party accountable for a mistake.
OpenAI’s business guide, read November 7, 2026, uses “employee agents” for pre-built software that helps a team finish work, and names ChatGPT’s agent mode as the example in that guide. Deloitte’s December 10, 2025 Tech Trends essay talks about managing “digital workers” and a “silicon-based workforce” beside human staff, and it keeps people on oversight and on work whose requirements keep shifting. How far the software may go before a person confirms a step is autonomy. The stop itself is a human in the loop, often at an approval gate.
The longer guide is What is an AI employee?.