This article explains how to distinguish agentic workflows from autonomous agents by focusing on ownership of control flow. It argues that the primary distinction is a spectrum between predictability and autonomy, rather than just whether a large language model is involved. The author breaks down four key stages of system design:
* Deterministic workflows where humans define fixed sequences in advance
* Orchestrated workflows where models choose from predefined branches
* Reactive agents that use reasoning to decide actions at runtime via patterns like ReAct
* Autonomous multi-agent systems where agents act as nested tools for one another
While fully autonomous systems offer high flexibility, the piece concludes that production environments typically favor hybrid architectures that combine structured workflows with targeted autonomy.
* Deterministic workflows where humans define fixed sequences in advance
* Orchestrated workflows where models choose from predefined branches
* Reactive agents that use reasoning to decide actions at runtime via patterns like ReAct
* Autonomous multi-agent systems where agents act as nested tools for one another
While fully autonomous systems offer high flexibility, the piece concludes that production environments typically favor hybrid architectures that combine structured workflows with targeted autonomy.
