Ideas, projects, and everything we are building.
Notes on putting AI to work in real businesses, and what we learn running our own projects.
What is an AI agent, and what would one do in a small business?
An AI agent is software that is given one job, the tools to do it, and limits on what it may do alone. In a small business that usually means reading documents or messages and doing the routine part of the work that follows.
Workflow automation or an AI agent: which one do you need?
Use workflow automation when the steps and rules never change. Use an AI agent when the work involves reading something that varies, such as documents or emails. Most real projects use a workflow for the path and an agent for one step inside it.
What should a business automate first?
Automate the task that repeats most often, follows rules someone can write down, and can be checked before it reaches a customer. That is usually a dull task that takes hours every week.