AI Workflow Readiness Checklist
A practical checklist for deciding whether an agentic workflow is ready to move from prototype to production.
- AI Engineering
- Agentic Workflows
- Automation
Start with the business action
An AI workflow is only useful when it changes a real operating path: responding to a lead, triaging a request, reconciling data, or preparing a decision for a human.
Before production, define the action the system is allowed to take, the data it can use, and the handoff point when confidence is low.
Production readiness checks
- The workflow has a named owner.
- The system records inputs, outputs, tool calls, and exceptions.
- Human review is required for high-impact or irreversible actions.
- The fallback path is clear when model output is unavailable or low confidence.
- Prompt and tool changes can be reviewed like software changes.
Keep the first release narrow
The strongest first release usually automates one repeatable path end to end. Expanding the workflow is easier once the team trusts the audit trail and failure mode.