The 10 workflows I tell clients not to automate.

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1. First-time complaints that need judgment

   The first angry customer is not a template. If you have not written the rule, do not let software speak for you.

2. Pricing exceptions and discounts

   If a person has to decide whether this buyer gets a break, the agent can fetch the price book. It should not make the exception.

3. Hiring, firing, and performance notes

   These are people decisions. Drafting a job post is fine. Scoring a human as if that score is true is not.

4. Money movement without a named person

   Refunds, wires, invoice changes, credits. The agent can prepare the packet. A person still clicks.

5. Legal or compliance sign-off

   I will not pretend to certify HIPAA or a policy program. If a lawyer or compliance owner has to sign, they sign.

6. One-off projects you have not done twice

   Automation needs a repeatable path. If you are still inventing the work, write the SOP first.

7. Relationship asks

   Apology calls, partnership asks, the note that only works because it is from you. Draft, maybe. Send, no.

8. Ambiguous inbound you cannot classify

   If a person has to read it twice to know what was asked, the agent should flag it, not guess.

9. Brand-sensitive public posts without review

   A draft is useful. An unsupervised post is how you get a screenshot.

10. Workflows with no named reviewer

    If nobody will look, I will not build it. I do not ship fully autonomous no-review agents.

What I will automate

The boring, repeated, already-ruled work: triage, drafts, file find, reporting pulls, CRM fields after you confirm. See what to automate first and when not to automate.