Agentic Retrieval (also called Agentic RAG) goes beyond simple search — the AI model intelligently decomposes complex queries into multiple sub-queries for more comprehensive retrieval.
| Feature | Standard RAG | Agentic Retrieval |
|---|---|---|
| Query Processing | Single search query | AI decomposes into multiple sub-queries |
| Context Gathering | Top-K nearest results | Multi-source, cross-referenced results |
| Complex Questions | Often misses context | Handles multi-hop reasoning |
| Cost | Lower | Higher (multiple LLM calls) |
Foundry IQ is Microsoft's evolved search intelligence layer (building on Azure AI Search) that enables grounded responses from multiple data sources across multi-cloud environments.