A multi-agent system splits a larger job across several agents: one orchestrator owns the plan, one subagent researches, another edits, another tests, another reviews. Adding agents adds delegation, never intelligence, and five confused agents can make a bigger mess than one clear agent. The system works when the roles, handoffs, context, and review gates are designed well, so the point is matching the right worker to the right part of the job.
A general contractor is the everyday version. They don’t personally hang every sheet of drywall, install every pipe, and wire every light. They coordinate the job, assign specialists, and make sure the house comes together.
Why you care
Multi-agent systems help when the work has natural parts: forcing one agent to carry research, drafting, testing, and review makes it switch roles constantly. Everything rides on the handoffs, so a research agent has to return findings in a useful format and the orchestrator needs enough visibility to catch conflicts. Start with the workflow, define the inputs and outputs, identify the handoffs, then decide whether multiple agents help. If the work isn’t clear enough for one agent, adding more usually hides the confusion.