Autonomy is not the goal
The valuable property of an agent is reliable completion of a bounded task, not open-ended independence. Broad mandates produce systems that are impressive in demonstrations and unusable in operations.
A narrow mandate with a typed tool surface is easier to evaluate, easier to permission, and considerably easier to trust.
Tools are the interface
Each capability should be an explicit, validated tool with the same permission model as a human user performing the action. An agent should never hold privileges the requester does not have.
This constraint eliminates an entire category of failure before it can occur.
Stopping conditions
Define when the agent should stop and hand over: unclear intent, missing entitlement, low confidence, or repeated tool failure.
An agent that stops well is more valuable than one that continues optimistically.
Considering a system like this?
We run a short technical discovery before proposing anything. If a simpler answer exists, we will tell you.
Start a conversation ↗