Most tools wait for instructions. Agentic AI doesn’t. It plans steps, chooses tools, acts inside guardrails, and reports back—like a junior teammate who never tires. Your job shifts from doing everything to designing the environment where autonomous assistants do the right things, the right way.
Think of platforms like ChatGPT Agent and Perplexity Comet as orchestration layers: they turn prompts into plans, plans into actions, and actions into evidence—under your supervision.
What “Agentic” Really Means
- Intent → Plan → Action → Evidence → Review.
- Operates within constraints you set (permissions, data access, budgets, SLAs).
- Hands off at clear checkpoints; logs decisions for audit.
- Improves with feedback, not just better phrasing.
You’re not delegating tasks; you’re delegating process—with control points.
The Agent Brief (write this once per assistant)
Role: What this agent is for (e.g., Researcher, Outbound SDR, Test Writer).
Inputs: Approved sources, inboxes, repos, CRM objects.
Tools: Docs, spreadsheets, calendar, CMS, CRM, code repo, APIs.
Constraints: Scope, time caps, cost caps, privacy rules, tone.
Deliverables: The artefacts it must produce (outline, PR, deck, email thread, test report).
Quality Bar: Acceptance criteria; how you’ll measure “done.”
Escalation: When to stop and ping you.
Logging: What to record and where.
If you wouldn’t trust a human intern with a vague “go do it,” don’t do that to an agent. Write the brief.
Run Modes (start safe, then loosen)
- Shadow Mode: Observes only; proposes actions you approve.
- Copilot Mode (default): Acts in bounded steps; you approve hand-offs.
- Autopilot Mode: Full autonomy inside strict guardrails and budgets.
Start in Shadow → graduate to Copilot → use Autopilot only where the blast radius is tiny.
Field Playbooks
Writers & Creators — Researcher → Outliner → Drafter
Tools: Combinations that include ChatGPT Agent for outlining/drafting and Perplexity Comet for live research synthesis.
Brief Excerpt:
- Constraints: Cite sources; no invented facts; 1–2 pull-quotes max.
- Deliverables: Research brief (links + bullets), outline, 700–1,000-word draft to your style guide.
- Handoffs: You approve brief → outline → draft.
Metrics: Time-to-publish, edits per draft, factual corrections, saves/week.
Sales & Partnerships — Prospector → Personaliser → Scheduler
Tools: Use an agent to assemble a 20-account ICP list (signals + rationale), a second to personalise 3-sentence openers, and a third to stage a 4-touch cadence.
Brief Excerpt:
- Permissions: CRM read/write; calendar limited; email draft-only.
- Constraints: One ask per note; no attachments; human approval before sending.
- Deliverables: Account list, openers, cadence with dates.
Metrics: Replies per 20 contacts, time-to-next-step, meetings/week, pipeline hygiene.
Coders & Builders — Triage → Test Writer → PR Scaffolder
Tools: Agent scaffolds branches and draft PRs; you keep merges human-only.
Brief Excerpt:
- Constraints: Max PR size; never merge; sensitive keys redacted; tests must pass locally.
- Deliverables: Repro steps, failing test, draft PR with context and risk notes.
Metrics: Lead time (ticket → PR), PRs/week, defects per change, rollback rate.
Governance & Safety (non-negotiable)
- Least privilege: Start read-only; expand as trust is earned.
- Approval gates: Humans approve outbound comms, money moves, and merges.
- PII rules: Minimise, mask, or avoid; log access.
- Budget caps: Hard limits per run/day.
- Change logs: Every action stamped with who/what/when/why.
- Red-team drills: Routinely try to break your own guardrails.
Operating Cadence
Daily (10 min): Queue tasks, pick run mode, review yesterday’s logs, set one experiment.
Weekly (30–45 min): Tune briefs, promote/demote permissions, prune agents, update style guides.
Monthly (60 min): Add one new agent or retire one; re-evaluate KPIs and costs.
KPIs That Actually Matter
- Autonomy Ratio: Steps completed without rescue.
- Error Cost: Time to detect/correct bad outputs.
- Cycle Time: Idea → shipped artefact.
- Human Effort Saved: Minutes reclaimed per week.
- Quality Delta: Edits required, defects, factual corrections.
Seven-Day Rollout
- Define outcomes (where you want leverage).
- Write briefs for one research agent and one execution agent.
- Wire tools with least-privilege access.
- Shadow-mode pilot on a real task (e.g., article research with Comet).
- Tune guardrails; add approval checkpoints (e.g., ChatGPT Agent outlines only).
- Promote to Copilot for one workflow stage.
- Document the runbook and measure the savings.
You don’t need a hundred agents. You need a handful you trust. Design the brief, set the boundaries, and let your tools become teammates.
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