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Agentic AI
🔴 Advanced · 8–10 min

Autonomous Workflows

An autonomous workflow is a multi-step process where an AI agent can keep working toward a goal without asking the user after every step.

Workflow Playground

Run the same workflow two ways

The agent has 7 steps to finish. Pick a mode, press Run, and watch which steps need your approval and which the agent handles on its own.

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The goal
Prepare and send a weekly project report.
Choose how much the agent does on its own:
Ready
Assisted vs Autonomous

Two ways to run a multi-step task

Both are useful. The right choice depends on how clear the goal is and how risky the steps are.

Assisted
User guides each step.
Best for
New tasks
Unclear goals
High-risk work
Autonomous
Agent continues through known steps.
Best for
Repeated workflows
Clear goals
Low-risk steps
Where autonomy helps

Pick a workflow to see how it flows

Click an example to see the same shape every time: a goal, planned steps, safe automatic work, and an approval point before anything important.

Workflow shape
Pick a workflow above to see its shape.
Safety checkpoints

Even autonomous workflows need checkpoints

The agent can run the safe steps alone, but a person should still approve high-impact actions. A checkpoint is a pause before something important.

Before sending an email
Before deleting data
Before spending money
Before changing production systems
Before sharing sensitive information
How a checkpoint fits in
Agent Automatic steps Pause Checkpoint Human Human approval Result Final action
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Key takeaways
  • • Autonomous workflows let agents continue across multiple steps.
  • • They work best when the goal and boundaries are clear.
  • Not every step should be fully automatic.
  • Safety checkpoints help reduce risk.
  • • Human approval is still important for high-impact actions.
Summary

Autonomous workflows allow AI agents to complete repeated multi-step tasks with less manual guidance, while still using checkpoints for important or risky actions.