#348 The Future of Automation: Agentic vs Deterministic Workflows
The future of automation isn't just about smarter tools—it's about shifting control from humans to AI agents that act autonomously. Sid Brat, founder of ReFound, reveals that agentic workflows—where AI agents reason through complex, variable scenarios—are no longer experimental but production-ready, capable of handling 80% of customer support cases without human intervention. Unlike deterministic RPA workflows that follow rigid 'if-then' rules, agentic systems evaluate context, weigh multiple variables (like customer value or history), and make decisions before escalating only the edge cases to humans. The real game-changer? The AI does the heavy lifting—researching, querying databases, drafting responses—while humans only approve or refine. This flips the old model where people fed data to AI and then acted on its suggestions. Now, humans set goals, and AI executes. Brat emphasizes that success hinges not on flashy tech, but on fixing data silos and building a unified data layer first. For organizations, the path isn't to adopt AI in isolation, but to redesign workflows around a 'heterogeneous' system where humans, deterministic bots, and agentic agents coexist—each doing what they do best. The result? A sustainable competitive advantage built not on tools, but on how work actually gets done.
Agentic workflows let AI agents make decisions based on context, not just pre-programmed rules, enabling them to handle complex, variable tasks like customer support.
The AI now does the work—researching, querying systems, drafting actions—while humans only approve or refine, flipping the old model where humans did all the work.
80% of customer service issues can now be handled by AI agents, reducing human workload and lowering operational costs significantly.
Agentic systems are most effective when integrated into a unified data layer that connects siloed tools and data sources across an organization.
Agentic workflows are not a replacement for humans but a co-pilot—humans set goals, AI executes, and humans only intervene for judgment calls.
…and 3 more takeaways available in PodZeus
The Real Advantage Isn't AI—It's How You Work
The episode opens with a warning: today's advantage becomes tomorrow's baseline. The only sustainable edge is how work is actually structured, not just which tools you use.
Sid Brat’s Origin Story: From Valley Marketer to AI Pioneer
Sid shares his journey from working with AI startups in Silicon Valley to founding ReFound after the pandemic, having been one of the first to use OpenAI’s API in 2020.
The Exponential Curve of AI: From Magic Box to Production Reality
Sid reflects on how AI’s early days felt like magic, but the pace of progress—especially in 2025—has made agentic workflows viable in enterprise settings.
Deterministic vs. Agentic Workflows: The Core Difference
The episode clarifies the fundamental distinction: deterministic workflows follow rigid rules, while agentic workflows use reasoning to adapt to complex, variable inputs.
Agentic AI in Action: Customer Support at Scale
“The agent can go check all of those different things and make a choice based on that and say, okay, I think this person merits a refund or maybe merits 70% refund or whatever, or a coupon code for the next purchase.”
“What's happening is the AI is doing the work. The AI is collecting the data and then asking you, hey, is this right or wrong? And you are telling it, yes, go do the thing.”
“The agent can go check all of those different things and make a choice based on that and say, okay, I think this person merits a refund or maybe merits 70% refund or whatever, or a coupon code for the next purchase.”
“If it is like doing research on the guest, you don't really need to go into Google and LinkedIn and do it. Your AI agent can go and pull up a full profile.”
Host
Guest
Sid Brat
person
ReFound
organization
Emergent
organization
OpenAI
organization
Gemma
other
Google Gemini
organization
Deloitte
organization
Anthropic
organization
Llama
other
J.B. Hunt
organization
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