Drafting a quote and sending a quote look almost identical in a demo. Operationally, they are different risk classes. A draft can be corrected. Sending reaches a customer, creates an expectation and may affect revenue.
Judge the action, not the AI label
| Example | Useful mode | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Reply draft | Draft | A person checks facts and tone |
| Suggest appointment | Approval | Conflicts and exceptions remain visible |
| Classify internal note | Automatic | Low impact and easy to correct |
| Promise discount | Approval | Creates a commercial commitment |
Do not ask whether the whole agent may be autonomous. Ask of each action: Is it reversible? Financially material? Visible outside the company? Legally binding? Each yes moves a human closer to the final click.
A useful approval shows the proposed change
An unexplained OK button is weak control. The reviewer needs the recipient, subject, message and customer data used for an email. For a CRM update, show the old value, proposed value and source. Approval should require understanding, not faith.
- The agent creates a bounded proposal.
- The interface shows content, source and intended action.
- A person approves, edits or rejects it.
- Execution is logged with time, identity and result.
Autonomy can be earned
Launch a new workflow in draft mode. After enough reviewed cases, narrowly defined reversible steps may graduate to automatic execution. Correction reasons and exception rates are better evidence than a confident demo.
Our guide to permissions and audit logs defines the allowed action. A tested kill switch and rollback covers the moment an approved design still fails.
Sources
FAQ
Will approval make automation slow?
It will if attached to every trivial step. Reserve it for actions that are externally visible, difficult to reverse or commercially material.
What can run automatically?
Narrow, well-observed and easily corrected actions are the best early candidates.
What must a reviewer see?
The proposed difference, its source, the target system and the consequence of approval.
When can approvals be reduced?
After real cases show stable performance and the team has tested a quick way back.