Research on agents and multiagent systems (MAS) has seen a huge expansion in the last years. Many different research areas have converged to MAS, and a large number of different research fields (from human to social sciences, from biology to economy and law) have contributed to the development of the MAS field. While MAS technologies are developing and spreading worldwide, many complex application scenarios resort to MAS for innovative approaches and solutions.

In this paper, we first try to devise out the current state of the art of MAS research, and to sketch the multifaceted relations between MAS and other research fields. Then, we outline the main application areas for MAS, and finally provide some visions on the perspectives of MAS research and technologies. Throughout the paper, while trying to keep a non-biased eye on world-wide research, we give some emphasis to the many relevant results and contributions from Italian researchers in the MAS area.