If we already have automation, what's the need for Agents?

“Automation” and “agent” sound similar — but they solve very different classes of problems.

Automation = Fixed Instruction → Fixed Outcome

• Like Zapier, IFTTT, Jenkins pipelines, cron jobs.

• You pre-define exact triggers, actions, rules.

• Great when:

  • Context is stable.

  • No judgment / interpretation is needed.

  • The world doesn’t change mid-execution.

Example:

“Every day at 5pm, send me a sales report.”
✅ Perfect automation — zero thinking needed.

Agent = Goal → Autonomous Decision-Making

• Given a goal, not just rules.

• Perceives, plans, adapts, self-corrects, retries, negotiates ambiguity.

• Can operate even when instructions are incomplete or circumstances change.

• Doesn’t need babysitting.

Example:

“Grow my revenue 15% next quarter — find the best channels, experiment, and adjust.”

✅ That’s NOT automatable. Needs strategy, improvisation, learning, resource orchestration.