When to use an AI agent — and when a workflow is better

Admin·Feb 27, 2026·7 min read

Agents are having a moment. Every framework, every demo, every conference talk is about multi-step autonomous systems. And for a narrow class of problems, agents really are the right tool.

For most problems we see in the wild, though, a deterministic workflow with one or two LLM steps outperforms an agent on accuracy, latency, cost, and maintainability. The rule we use with clients is simple: if you can write the steps down, don't use an agent.

This piece walks through a concrete decision framework, with three real engagements where we picked workflow over agent, and one where we picked agent over workflow — and why.

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