Agent Orchestrator
The controller that coordinates multiple agents and tools, deciding who does what and when.
Think of it like
A conductor — not playing an instrument, but keeping every section in time and on cue.
Example
The orchestrator receives a request, routes the research part to one agent and the writing part to another, then assembles the result.
How it actually works
The orchestrator is the brain of a multi-agent system — it holds the overall plan, dispatches work, and reconciles results, so the individual agents can stay simple and focused. It can be itself an LLM making dynamic decisions or a fixed program running a defined flow. Its judgment gates the whole system, and it’s the natural single point of failure, so it tends to get the most design scrutiny.
For product teams
The orchestrator’s decisions shape the whole system’s behavior — it’s where you invest the most design care.
For engineers
A coordinating layer that routes tasks among agents and tools and integrates their outputs, dynamically or via fixed flow.
Related
- Orchestration — The general act it performs.
- Manager-Worker — A common structure it manages.
- Workflow Engine — The engine that runs defined flows.
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