Automation — if you do it twice, a workflow should do it

What it is

Automation tools connect software products, trigger actions based on events, and run processes without human intervention. AI makes them smarter: instead of rigid 'if X then Y' rules, you can add judgement — summarise this, classify that, decide which path based on content. The line between workflow and agent is blurring.

Why now

The no-code automation space matured alongside AI: Zapier and n8n now have native AI steps, meaning you can build workflows that read, reason, and respond — not just move data between buckets. The result is that knowledge work that was previously too variable to automate is now automatable.