This book provides a practical and visionary roadmap for creating thinking machines — intelligent, autonomous agents that do not just respond to commands but proactively sense, plan, learn, and act in the real world. Combining foundational concepts with modern tools and frameworks, the book guides readers through the architecture, perception, reasoning, memory, planning, and learning systems that power next-generation agentic AI. With real-world case studies and clear explanations, this book helps researchers, developers, and curious innovators alike understand how to design AI that can truly think, adapt, and collaborate.

Dr. Parikshit is a Senior Member of IEEE and currently serves as Professor and Dean Academics at Vishwakarma Institute of Technology (VIT), Pune. With over 26 years of teaching and research experience, he has previously held leadership positions including Dean–Research & Development at VIT, Dean–R&D and Head of AI & Data Science at VIIT, and Head of Computer Engineering at Sinhgad Institutes. He earned his Ph.D. from Aalborg University, Denmark, and completed postdoctoral research in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is also a Postdoctoral Fellow, Honorary Professor, and Guest Faculty at the University of María Auxiliadora, Peru. Dr. Parikshit holds 165+ patents, has published 500+ research papers, and authored/edited 92 books with leading publishers. His research focuses on Machine Learning, Data Science, IoT, Algorithms, and Security. He has received several national and international awards and has delivered over 400 expert lectures worldwide.

Dr. Makarand Velankar received a Ph.D. degree in Computer Engineering from Savitribai Phule Pune University. He has 11 years of industry experience and has been associated with MKSSS’S Cummins College of Engineering for women, Pune, Maharashtra, India since 2001. His research interests include machine learning, AI, information retrieval, algorithms, cognitive computing and computational musicology. He is a member of various professional bodies such as the Computer Society of India, ACM, Indian Institute of Engineers. He acted as reviewer for many journals and conferences such as IEEE transactions, Springer, Eurasip, Sadhna, UAAI, IGI Global and ISMIR. He is associated with the International Society of Music Information Retrieval to promote research in computational music. He is also an entrepreneurship educator, trainer and approved mentor for start-ups. He received Gold Global Jury award for evaluating and guiding startups at global level.

Dr. Vaishali Rajput is Assistant Head – Research in the Department of Artificial Intelligence and Data Science at Vishwakarma Institute of Technology (VIT), Pune, India. She completed her first Postdoctoral Fellowship at Lincoln University, Malaysia, and is currently pursuing her second Postdoctoral Fellowship at BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus, UAE. She earned her Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, in 2024. With over 22 years of teaching experience, Dr. Rajput has authored multiple books in the areas of Data Structures, Database Management Systems, and Artificial Intelligence applications. She has published numerous research papers in machine learning, deep learning, AI in healthcare, and intelligent systems. Her notable research contributions include emotion-based blood pressure estimation, AI-driven cancer prediction, and early brain tumor detection using advanced machine learning techniques.