Rebuild internal operations around agent workflows (L6)
Recurring internal processes stop being human checklists with AI help and become agent-run workflows with human exception handling. Approvals, reporting, and request intake are the first three to move.
The steps
- 01
Inventory recurring internal work
Tool: Notion
List every weekly and monthly internal ritual with its owner and hours consumed. You cannot rebuild what you have not counted. Owner: operations lead. DoD: a ranked list by hours per month.
- 02
Move the top three to agent-run with exception queues
Tool: Zapier
The agent runs the standard path. Anything outside the rules goes to a named human queue with a service level, not back to the whole team. Owner: operations. Pitfall: automating the happy path and leaving exceptions undefined. Exceptions become invisible work. DoD: each automated process has a defined exception owner and response time.
- 03
Give every agent workflow an owner, a budget, and a review date
Tool: Manual
Unowned automations rot. Attach a person, a monthly cost ceiling, and a quarterly review to each one. Owner: operations plus finance. DoD: a register of agent workflows with owners, budgets, and review dates.
- 04
Report reclaimed hours and where they went
Tool: Snowflake
Hours saved is only half the story. Say what the team did with the time. Without that, the program reads as a cost story and gets cut. Owner: operations lead. DoD: a quarterly report of hours reclaimed and their reassignment.
Tools in this playbook
Next playbooks
Unfamiliar terms are defined in the AI and Revenue Dictionary. Related frameworks live in the framework library.