Most first agent projects fail for the same reason: they start too big. A team picks the most impressive workflow they can think of, spends three months on edge cases, and launches something nobody trusts.
Start with the boring work
The best first workflow is high in volume, low in risk and already well documented. Order status questions, invoice matching and meeting scheduling are perfect candidates. Nobody will miss doing them by hand.
Measure the baseline first
Before you write a single prompt, record how long the work takes today, how often it goes wrong and what it costs. Without a baseline you cannot prove the agent is helping, and you will lose the argument for the second one.
Keep a human in the loop
For the first month, every action the agent takes should be reviewable. Start with drafts that a person approves, then move to auto-approve for the cases where accuracy has been consistently high.
Expand on evidence
Once the first agent is boring and reliable, the second one is easy to fund. That is the whole strategy.
