Workflows overview
A workflow is an automated, multi-step process, and it is the workhorse of automated AI. Where an agent is a goal-oriented worker, a workflow is a defined process that runs the exact same way every time, with the security checkpoints and guardrails your organization requires built in.
A workflow chains together the platform’s other building blocks: functions do the individual work, connectors reach the systems that work happens in, and agents handle the steps that need judgment.
Anatomy of a workflow
Section titled “Anatomy of a workflow”Every workflow is built from five structural elements:
- Trigger — the event or schedule that starts execution: a time-based cadence, an event in a connected system, or a person kicking it off manually.
- Actions — the individual steps the workflow performs across connected data sources and systems.
- Decision logic — conditional rules and branching that let the workflow adapt and route work based on the data it encounters.
- Approvals — checkpoints where execution pauses and waits for a person to review and sign off before a high-risk step continues.
- Monitoring — oversight telemetry giving visibility into active runs, completed executions, and steps that need human attention.
Ownership
Section titled “Ownership”Every enterprise workflow is assigned an owner. Clear ownership is what keeps a growing library of automations transparent and governed: there is always a designated person who knows why a workflow exists, watches how it performs, and maintains its configuration. Your account administrator works with the owner on who can access the workflow across the organization.
Approvals are part of the design
Section titled “Approvals are part of the design”Workflows are safe to run at enterprise scale because human approval steps are designed in rather than bolted on. A workflow can perform ten tasks automatically and still stop at the eleventh — committing financial spend, sending an external communication, modifying sensitive data — and wait for mandatory sign-off before it proceeds. See Approval workflows.
Common enterprise workflows
Section titled “Common enterprise workflows”Typical starting points include:
- Employee onboarding and offboarding — user provisioning, system access grants, and account deactivations.
- Request routing and triage — reading, categorizing, and assigning incoming customer or internal support tickets.
- Automated report generation — gathering metrics across connected tools to draft and distribute periodic briefings.
- Cross-system data synchronization — keeping records aligned between CRMs, ERPs, and databases.
- Multi-step approval pipelines — routing purchase requests, content releases, or access elevation through required authorization chains.
For worked examples, see Common enterprise workflows.
Structural overview
Section titled “Structural overview”| Element | Primary function | Operational value |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | Starts the process | Reliable event-driven or scheduled initiation |
| Actions | Executes single steps | Automated cross-system task completion |
| Decision logic | Routes data conditionally | Dynamic adaptation to changing inputs |
| Approvals | Pauses for human review | Safety on high-consequence actions |
| Monitoring | Provides execution visibility | Clear operational tracking and auditability |