From AI demos to reliable workflows

A convincing demonstration answers whether a model can complete a task once. An operating system must answer what happens when an input is incomplete, an integration fails, or a request arrives twice. Those questions belong in the first design conversation.

Start with one bounded workflow. Write down its inputs, allowed actions, owner, and completion criteria. Keep deterministic steps in code. Give the model the part that requires interpretation, and check its output before it changes another system.

Treat a successful run as evidence about that run. Build an evaluation set from ordinary work, difficult exceptions, and previously observed failures before expanding access or scope.