The most useful part of an agent is the handoff.

Start where responsibility changes

A good automation does more than complete a task. It makes the next person’s work easier. Before building an agent, write down who receives its output, what they need to decide, and what would make them hesitate. Those three questions reveal the shape of a useful handoff.

Package the decision

In our fictional supplier workflow, the agent produces a short brief with the request, the matching account, and the policy it used. It also names what it could not confirm. This gives the reviewer a bounded decision instead of a transcript they must interpret from scratch.

Make uncertainty visible

An incomplete record should take a different path from a verified one. Route missing information to a review queue and explain why it stopped. A system that exposes its limits is easier to improve than one that quietly fills in the gaps.

Measure the whole exchange

Track whether the recipient can act without asking a follow-up question. Look at returned work as carefully as completed work. The goal is a shorter, clearer exchange between people and agents, with responsibility visible at every step.