Agentic Workflow
A process that runs autonomously through multiple steps using AI agents — detecting a trigger, gathering information, making decisions, and taking actions — without a human driving each step. Agentic workflows replace manual process chains for recurring operational tasks where the rules are known and the volume is high.
What is an Agentic Workflow?
An agentic workflow is a process in which AI agents carry out a sequence of operational steps autonomously — from trigger to resolution — using tools, data sources, and decision rules to move the task forward without continuous human input. It is the operationalisation of agentic AI: not just a model that can reason, but a full process that runs, checks its own work, handles variation, and surfaces only what genuinely requires a human decision.
Agentic workflows sit above individual agents in the architecture. A single agent handles a task; an agentic workflow orchestrates a process — potentially involving multiple agents, multiple systems, and multiple decision points.
Agentic Workflow in Practice: A Wholesale Order Exception
A wholesale distributor receives a customer order for 500 units of a product, but the warehouse management system shows only 320 units in stock. The expected behaviour — check availability, assess alternatives, communicate to the customer, update the order — currently takes a customer service rep 25–40 minutes per occurrence and happens dozens of times daily. Here is how an agentic workflow handles it:
Trigger (automated detection): The order management system flags the order as unable to fulfil fully. The agentic workflow is triggered automatically. No human involvement yet.
Information gathering: The workflow agent queries the WMS for stock at all warehouse locations — 320 in the main warehouse, 90 in the overflow site, 60 in transit with an expected receipt in 3 days. It checks the customer's contract for any partial shipment terms and queries the product master for approved substitutes.
Decision and action: The rules engine evaluates the options: partial ship (320 + 90 from overflow = 410 units within SLA), full ship delayed by 3 days, or substitute product. The customer contract permits partial shipment above 80% of order quantity. 410/500 = 82% — within terms. The workflow auto-approves a partial shipment of 410 units, schedules the remaining 90 for the next available run, and drafts a customer notification explaining the split with confirmed delivery dates.
Escalation trigger: Because the order value exceeds EUR 5,000, the workflow routes the draft notification to the account manager for review before sending — not to approve the logistics decision (that was made autonomously) but to confirm the customer communication is appropriate for this relationship.
Total time from order flag to resolution: under 90 seconds. Human involvement: one 30-second review of a pre-drafted message.
Agentic Workflows in Operations
The highest-value candidates for agentic workflows share a common profile: high volume, rule-governed, currently handled inconsistently by people, with clear escalation points for genuine exceptions. In manufacturing and wholesale operations, this includes 3-way invoice matching, reorder triggering, delivery exception resolution, supplier non-conformance processing, and customer order exception handling. The agentic workflow does not replace operational judgment — it applies it consistently, at scale, and frees the people who have that judgment for the cases where it actually needs to be exercised.