// series · 9 parts
Designing AI-Native Applications
AI agents vs microservices: the six differences that matter — determinism, state, contracts, retries, testing, cost — and when an agent is the wrong tool.
NK
Navmeet Kaur
Updated Jul 05, 2026
~46 min
Total read
Intermediate
Level
9 parts published
// the path
00
AI Agents vs Microservices: An Architect's Guide (2026)
AI agents vs microservices: the six differences that matter — determinism, state, contracts, retries, testing, cost — and when an agent is the wrong tool.
6 min
✓ Published01
Context Engineering Architecture: A 2026 Guide
Context engineering for architects: treat the context window as RAM on a token budget — what fills it, where it breaks, and when a plain prompt wins.
5 min
✓ Published02
AI Agent Memory Architecture: A 2026 Guide
AI agent memory for architects: the three long-term types, the write-recall-forget lifecycle, where it breaks, and when an agent needs no memory at all.
6 min
✓ Published03
Long-Running AI Workflows: A 2026 Guide
Long-running AI workflows: why request/response breaks, how durable execution resumes instead of restarting, idempotency, and when to skip it.
5 min
✓ Published04
Human-in-the-Loop Architecture: A 2026 Guide
Human-in-the-loop architecture for AI agents: approval gates, interrupt and resume, calibrated autonomy, the approval-fatigue trap, and where to put the human.
5 min
✓ Published05
AI Control Plane Architecture: A 2026 Guide
AI control plane architecture: the governance layer over your agents — identity, policy, observability, cost, and audit — and when you actually need one.
5 min
✓ Published06
Agent Orchestration Patterns: A 2026 Guide
Agent orchestration patterns: supervisor, hierarchical, sequential, parallel, swarm — which wins in 2026, what it costs, and when one agent is enough.
5 min
✓ Published07
Agent Mesh vs Supervisor: What Holds Up in Production
Agent mesh vs supervisor: why 2026 production data favors bounded supervisor coordination over open agent meshes, and when a controlled mesh still earns its keep.
6 min
✓ Published08
Designing AI-Native Applications: The Architecture SeriesLATEST
AI-native applications break classic architecture instincts. This 8-part series maps the decisions that matter: context, memory, orchestration, governance.
3 min
✓ Published