Framework
Workflows versus agents
The question it answers
When a firm brings AI into a business process, should the product lead build a predefined workflow or let an agent decide its own steps?
- Origin
- Anthropic, 2024
- Diagram type
- Comparison table
- Level of analysis
- Firm
Diagram
Workflows versus agents
| Criterion | Workflow | Agent |
|---|---|---|
| Who decides the path | predefined code | the model directs itself |
| Predictability | high | lower |
| Cost and latency | lower | higher; errors can compound |
| Suits | clear, repeatable tasks | open-ended tasks where the number of steps is hard to know in advance |
| Advice | prefer the simplest solution | add complexity only when the benefit is demonstrated |
Sources
References
Listed A–Z by author surname, Harvard style. A source with a DOI links to https://doi.org/…; one without links to its page or says plainly that it has no DOI.
- Anthropic (2024) Building effective AI agents. Anthropic Research.No DOIanthropic.comSource page