What Is Agent Handoff?

Agent handoff is the point where one AI agent passes a task, along with its context, to another agent or to a human. It lets a system route work to whichever party is best suited to the next step, so a complex job moves through the right specialists instead of stalling with one agent that cannot finish it.

How agent handoff works

A handoff moves both the task and the context needed to continue it. When an agent reaches the edge of what it can do, it packages up what it has learned so far, the goal, and any partial work, then transfers control to a better-suited agent or a person.

In a multi-agent system, a coordinating layer usually decides where a task goes based on the type of request. A support agent might handle a routine question on its own, then hand a refund dispute to a finance agent, and escalate a legal complaint to a human. The value is in carrying the context across each transfer, so the receiving party does not start from nothing.

Why agent handoff matters for AI

Handoff is what lets a system stay reliable as tasks get harder. No single agent is good at everything, and forcing one to try produces weak results at the edges. Clean handoffs, including handoff to a human at the right moment, keep quality high and give people a place to step in before a mistake ships.

At Custom AI Studio, deciding where agents hand off to each other, and where they hand off to a person, is a core part of designing a system a business can trust in production.