Last month I pivoted to code-based agentic workflows.
Built a full outreach engine — complex logic, multiple data sources, a ton of edge cases.
Where n8n took months to finish and iterate (ofc it was the first shot).
Recently pivoted fully customizable, robust, python based agentic system.
Worked “good enough” on first run. A week of tightening. Then parity with the old system — and more flexible.
No magic. Just speed.
Phase 1 — Manual: lists, research, inbox tab juggling. A single SDR burning 20+ hours/week doing robot work. High cost. Zero leverage.
Phase 2 — AI-assisted (2023 → early 2025): AI was a fast but flaky junior. You still needed humans to chain, correct, and babysit workflows.
Phase 3 — Agentic AI (now → next 10 months): AI that plans, reasons, self-corrects, and chains multi-step processes end-to-end. It can even improve its own patterns over iterations. The progress is compounding, not linear.
Real effects I’m seeing now:
20–40 hour projects reduced to 2-hour builds
Multiple tools replaced by a single agentic pipeline
Teams scaling output without scaling headcount
Yes, AI still fails sometimes.
But the real risk is letting months of progress sit idle while you debate “is it ready?”
Practical wins, not hype:
Sales: prospect research, personalized outreach, follow-ups — running while you sleep
Ops: data entry, QA, automations — removing daily drag
Support: routing, triage, answers to common questions — humans handle real problems
Analysis: synthesis, forecasting, pattern recognition — turning noise into decisions
Applying AI isn’t magic and it’s not “replace your team.”
It’s amplify your team — push their limits and remove boring work.
If you’re still treating AI as a curiosity instead of an operator, you’re choosing to fall behind.