A reusable agent pattern gives you a starting point for a recurring job. Its usefulness still depends on your inputs, allowed actions, expected result, and review process.
This path helps teams compare candidate workflows and assess whether an existing pattern fits. Start with the work, then inspect the pattern against it.
Choose the job before choosing the agent
Use how to choose an AI agent use case to compare candidate tasks. Prefer a first pilot whose output people can inspect and whose mistakes can be contained. Record what success means before browsing implementations.
Compare three example jobs
| Job | Shared path: input → task → result → review | What changes for your team | | --- | --- | | Visitor inquiry | Visitor question → find an approved answer → response and request summary → staff checks unclear requests. | Current service pages, contact route, and staffed hours. | | Vendor intake | Form and documents → check evidence and gaps → structured intake brief → owner verifies exceptions. | Intake requirements, allowed documents, and who resolves risk. | | Policy question | Question and role → find the applicable rule → sourced explanation or gap → policy owner reviews conflicts. | Current policy version, scope, and exception owner. |
These examples share the same stages, but each depends on different source material, access limits, and review decisions.
Reuse, configure, or build
Scroll horizontally to see all columns.
| Approach | Questions to resolve |
|---|---|
| Reuse a pattern | Does its intended job and output match ours? What must be reviewed before use? |
| Configure a pattern | Can we adapt sources, instructions, permissions, and review points without changing the job? |
| Build a custom workflow | Which requirement needs a different integration or operating process, and who will maintain it? |
Reuse a pattern when its job, inputs, permissions, and limits already fit. Configure it when supported settings let you change sources, permissions, or review without changing the workflow. Build a custom solution only if a required workflow or integration need still cannot be met.
Pilot the adapted workflow
Write a focused job brief and evaluate representative work. A promising demonstration does not settle whether the pattern fits your sources or operating boundaries.
Browse the Agent Library for current listings. Use agent design to prepare the configuration and governance to plan operation after the pilot.
All guides in this topic
- AI Agents for Internal Knowledge Work: Use an agent for internal questions when approved policies and procedures can support a reviewable answer and the workflow can route exceptions.
- AI Agents for Lead Qualification and Enrichment: Use an agent to organize stated prospect needs against approved criteria, identify missing details, and prepare a human-reviewable follow-up.
- AI Agents for Meeting Preparation: Prepare a reviewable meeting brief from approved agendas, current records, and action notes while keeping decisions and commitments with people.
- AI Agents for Research Briefs: Use an agent to organize a bounded research question, compare approved sources, and draft a brief with traceable claims and visible uncertainty.
- Build vs. Reuse: When to Use an Agent Library or Build a Custom Agent: Reuse a pattern when its job and limits fit; configure it when supported inputs differ; build custom when a real workflow requirement remains unmet.