Start with the workflow before you choose an AI agent

New AI terminology can make a familiar business problem seem as though it needs a completely new answer. Start by describing the work: what arrives, what needs deciding, which systems are involved and what a successful completion looks like.

A fixed sequence of rules and a system that chooses its next action have different operating risks. Calling both “automation” does not remove that distinction. The useful question is which decisions you need the system to make and how those decisions will be checked.

Consider an incoming customer enquiry. The work might involve identifying the topic, finding the account, checking an order and drafting a reply. Some steps follow clear rules. Others need interpretation or a person with authority to decide.

Walk through a normal enquiry, an ambiguous one and one containing conflicting information. For each step, record the information needed, the permitted action and the person who owns an exception. You now have something to assess before buying an agent platform.

If the proposed system can change an order or send a message, make that authority explicit. A draft awaiting approval and an action taken on a customer account are different commitments.

Define which records the system may read, what it may change and when it must stop. Decide what a reviewer needs to see to understand an action. Give the team a way to handle incomplete or repeated work.

Test missing information, conflicting requests and unavailable services as well as a successful run. Measure the complete workflow, including checking and corrections. Fast drafting may have little value if the team spends longer investigating errors.

Keep a record of the decision criteria. If a simpler integration, a change to a form or clearer ownership would solve the problem, include it in the comparison. The right amount of autonomy follows from the task and its consequences.

Bring an example of the work, the current steps and the problem you want to remove. That is enough to begin a meaningful discussion about scope.

You do not need a settled architecture or a preferred product. You do need a clear view of who is responsible for the outcome.