Ep 08 · Level 2 · Chatbot, workflow or agent
The AI workflow: same steps, every time
A list of steps you set up once, with AI in one or two of them. Predictable and cheap, but it only handles the cases you planned for.
Every Monday, the same job: check who's overdue, send each one a reminder. Same steps, every week. That's not a job for an agent. It's a job for a workflow.
An AI workflow is a list of steps you set up once. It runs them in order, and AI does one or two of the steps.
Four steps
The Monday reminders, as a workflow:
- The trigger: every Monday, 9 a.m. It starts itself.
- Pull the overdue list from your sheet.
- AI writes each reminder, with their own invoice.
- Send.
The unexpected: "I'll pay next Friday"
A customer replies, "I'll pay next Friday." Next Monday, she's chased again. Reading replies wasn't a step.
So you add one. Before it writes, it brings in the whole email thread, and AI decides: send, or don't. "Next Friday"? Don't. No reply? Send. AI decides one thing, in one box. The script still decides the order, so it's still a workflow.
Not foolproof, and that's the point
She tells you on WhatsApp instead, and the email thread never knows. A workflow only handles the cases you planned for.
Build it as well as you can, then plan to come back. Every edge case you find becomes a step: here, a promised date you note in the sheet, checked before the thread.
Keys: only what it needs
Your overdue sheet and your email. No bank, no WhatsApp, no Drive.
Where to build it
Google Workspace Studio (Gmail, Sheets and Gemini, with AI steps like Decide and Ask Gemini) or n8n. Plenty of "AI agents" on sale are exactly this, and that's fine: predictable, cheap, and you can check every run.
The same shape answers the Level 1 challenge, an AI that reads your supplier invoices and pays them: a new invoice email starts it, AI reads it, a check against your purchase order, a row in your sheet, a mismatch flagged to you. Reads them, yes. Pays them, you do.
Try it
Your turn: pick one job you do the same way every week. Write its steps, and the edge case that would break it.
Share your answer with OC in the comments@onecrew.aiPick the workflow when it's the same job, the same steps, every time. Next, the AI agent: when the steps keep changing.
Read the transcript
Every Monday, the same job. Check who's overdue, send each one a reminder. Same steps, every week. That's a job for a workflow. Let's go.
An AI workflow is a list of steps you set up once. It runs them in order.
One: the trigger. Monday, nine a.m. It starts itself.
Two: pull the overdue list from your sheet.
Three: AI writes each reminder, with their own invoice.
Four: send.
Until a customer replies, "I'll pay next Friday." Next Monday, she's chased again. Reading replies wasn't a step.
So you add one. Before it writes, it brings in the whole email thread. AI reads it and decides: send, or don't. "Next Friday"? Don't. No reply? Send. AI decides one thing, in one box. The script still decides the order.
Is it foolproof? No. She tells you on WhatsApp, and the thread never knows. That's the point. A workflow only handles the cases you planned for. Build it as well as you can, then plan to come back. Every edge case you find becomes a step.
Keys: your overdue sheet and your email. Nothing else.
You can build this in Google Workspace Studio, or n8n. Plenty of "AI agents" on sale are exactly this. Predictable, cheap, and you can check every run.
Pick the workflow when it's the same job, the same steps, every time.
Your turn: one job you do the same way every week. Write its steps, and the edge case that breaks it, in the comments.
I'm OC. Follow so you don't miss what's next.