8 Videos You Need to Understand AI Agents (and the Resources I Wish I Had Earlier)

These YouTube videos are great way to start your Agentic AI journey

8 Videos You Need to Understand AI Agents (and the Resources I Wish I Had Earlier)
credit — LLM Engineer’s Handbook and Decoding ML by Paul Iustzin

Hello guys, when I first stumbled into the world of AI agents, I was overwhelmed. Every blog post, every course, every research paper seemed to assume I already understood terms like LLMs, retrieval-augmented generation, MCP, agentic workflows. I didn’t.

What saved me wasn’t a textbook or a dense paper — it was a handful of videos that broke things down visually and practically.

Watching these felt like sitting next to a mentor, someone who connected the dots between theory and practice.

If you’re trying to learn AI agents in 2025, this curated set of 8 videos is the perfect entry point.

But before you dive in, let me share a little roadmap that would have saved me dozens of hours:

  • Start with foundational concepts (Large Language Models and how they work).
  • Move to agent design (what makes an AI agent different from a chatbot).
  • Explore hands-on guides (building and evaluating your own agents).
  • Back it up with structured learning (books and online courses for depth).

Now, let’s dive in.

By the way, If breaking into AI or leveling up in ML interviews is on your roadmap, then you can also join this AI Bootcamp from NewLine. Although its costly if you compare with any other resource but considering the opportunities in AI today, the $9,800 is more of a career accelerator than a cost.

AI Bootcamp | newline

The 8 Videos You Should Watch to learn Agentic AI

Here are the 8 videos you can watch for free on YouTube to learn about AI Agents and Agentic AI Engineering:

1. LLM Introduction

Yannic Kilcher’s introduction makes sense of LLMs like GPT-4, Claude, and Gemini. A must-watch before tackling agents.

You can watch this video right here or on YouTube.

https://medium.com/media/c442f6ffcc3423772a229e36dfb53349/href

2. LLMs from Scratch

If you’ve ever wondered how transformers actually work, this deep dive is gold. This video is not enabled for Playback on other website, so you can only watch it on YouTube.

3. Agentic AI Overview (Stanford)

In this YouTube video Stanford researchers explaining why agents matter and how they fit into the AI landscape.

https://medium.com/media/c1301c97e96756c70e1953a87b61465d/href

4. Building and Evaluating Agents

This YouTube video covers not just building but testing, which is often overlooked.

https://medium.com/media/49c0489fa082a40d08d19e9203695a4c/href

5. Building Effective Agents

This video is full of practical strategies for getting agents to actually do useful work.

https://medium.com/media/752d5f2a221b47431879777b5c431f2d/href

6. Building Agents with MCP

This free YouTube video explains you how to build agents with MCP. You will also take a look at Microsoft’s framework for agent orchestration.

https://medium.com/media/88639e9ee46f27239cf5a50be7d05e14/href

7. Building an Agent from Scratch

A hands-on guide that shows you the pieces clicking together. You can watch this AI Agent tutorial right here or on YouTube.

https://medium.com/media/3b018e509cbc008785d3626bcb7ac76b/href

Philo Agents (Playlist)

Taught by Paul Iustzin, author of LLM Engineering Handbook, this hands-will teach you how to build an AI agent simulation engine that brings historical philosophers to life in an interactive game environment.

More advanced discussions that make you think beyond “toy agents.”

https://medium.com/media/cd7989053984e53cbfea5e38feda21e2/href

Beyond YouTube: Structured Learning for Serious Learners

While these videos are an amazing on-ramp, they’re not enough if you want to go from curious learner to practitioner. That’s where I found books and courses useful:

  • AI Bootcamp by NewLine — This bootcamp demystifies LLMs, taking you from concept to code and giving you a full, hands-on understanding of how transformers work. By the end, you’ll be ready to understand, build, and optimize LLMs, with the skills to read research papers, evaluate models, and confidently tackle ML interviews.

AI Bootcamp | newline

Designing Machine Learning Systems: An Iterative Process for Production-Ready Applications

LLM Engineer’s Handbook: Master the art of engineering large language models from concept to production

These courses gave me the “muscle memory” that watching videos alone couldn’t provide.

Why This Matters?

We’re at a point where agents are moving from labs to production — whether that’s copilots in your IDE, research assistants, or autonomous decision-making tools.

Understanding them now isn’t just “staying current.” It’s preparing yourself for the next wave of AI jobs and opportunities.

Think of these 8 videos as your map, and the books + courses as your compass. Together, they’ll give you the confidence to not just watch AI unfold, but to build with it.

So grab a notebook, block a few evenings this week, and start with the first video. I promise, by the time you get to the last one, you’ll see AI agents with completely new eyes.

Other AI and Cloud Computing Resources you may like

Thanks for reading this article so far. If you like these YouTube videos then please share with your friends and colleagues. If you have any questions or feedback, then please drop a note.

P. S. — If you want to start from books the start with AI Engineering by Chip Huyen and The LLM Engineering Handbook by Paul Iusztin and Maxime Labonne, both of them are great books and my personal favorites. They are also highly recommend on Redditt and HN.

AI Engineering: Building Applications with Foundation Models

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