Workflow automation is automation and AI that runs repeat work, the follow up, the reminders, the handoffs, inside the tools that you already have. A person stays in charge like a pilot with autopilot on.
What it looks like
A new lead comes in, it gets answered in seconds. A job closes, the invoice goes out. The follow up goes out. Nobody has to remember these things.
When a new event comes through HubSpot, you can have it automatically create the event in Google Calendar.
What it is good at
You want predictable workflows that are the same each time.
If you can write it out step by step and it is the same every time, then chances are it is really good for automation.
The highest priority automations are going to be the in between tasks like logging, putting in data, responding to emails, these sort of things that do not require a person’s skill and creative touch to make work. It just needs a machine to handle it.
Automation, workflow AI, or a person
There is a fully automated bucket where you are taking processes and they are done basically the same every time.
You have AI assisted, which I am calling workflow AI. And this AI fills in the gaps for when the steps are not the same each time.
And of course, the third bucket will be human only. These are high stakes.
Connect the tools you already have
These are all your tools and they do not talk to each other. Integration layer applications, like Zapier and n8n, allow you to start connecting them up into what I call a web or workflow AI system.
Your team already knows how to use these tools. This webbing underneath is all invisible, so it just works seamlessly with the tools you already have.
Fix the process before you automate it
If you are automating inefficient operations you are just going to magnify the inefficiency.
If you do not have a system, then what are you going to automate? So write down exactly what you would want it to be, step by step. And then once you actually have a system, then it is a criteria to automate.