"AI agents" has become one of those phrases that means everything and nothing.
So here's the line that matters in performance ops:
A production agent is not a chatbot. It's a bounded operational system.
If you want a clean test: if the agent needs a dashboard to be useful, it's not an agent. It's a feature.
Why this matters: operations is the constraint
Asana reports 60% of time goes to "work about work." Funnel found many marketers spend significant time on tasks that could be automated, including report compilation.
Performance teams aren't short on ideas. They're short on reliable execution.
Production agents delete the recurring checks that waste judgment.
The 6 requirements of a production agent
1) Clear scope
What it owns:
2) Explicit thresholds
What "off" means:
If you can't express "off" numerically, the agent will be noisy.
3) Evidence attached
Every output must include:
4) Workflow delivery
Agents should live where decisions happen:
Not another dashboard.
5) Run logs
Agents must be auditable:
6) Named owner
Someone tunes thresholds, handles false positives, and evolves the spec.
No owner means the agent dies slowly.
The agent spec template (copy/paste)
Use this template to define any agent:
```
Agent name:
Goal:
Scope: (platforms, accounts, objects)
Checks:
Thresholds:
Evidence: (links, baselines, comparisons)
Delivery: (channels, schedule)
Owner:
Escalation: (warn vs critical path)
Run log: (where stored)
```
The 3 agents every agency should deploy first
If you want fast ROI, start with boring.
1) Pacing agent
Daily: spend vs plan, drift detection, drivers and links
2) Tracking health agent
Daily + pre-launch: conversion event volume baseline checks, landing page reachability checks, sudden drop detection
3) Weekly narrative agent
Weekly: drafts the update (what happened, why, actions taken, next steps), attaches evidence links, turns reporting into review, not assembly
These agents don't replace strategy. They protect strategy.
FAQ
Should agents take actions automatically?
Not first. Earn trust with detection + evidence. Then gate low-risk actions behind approvals.
How do you measure success?
Time-to-notice, incident counts, and hours saved on recurring rituals.