The Case for Agency
Scripts follow instructions. Agents make decisions. The difference isn't technical — it's the difference between automation that breaks and automation that adapts.
Scripts Are Stupid
Let's be direct: scripted automation is a dead end.
You write a script to handle customer inquiries. It works for a week. Then someone asks a question you didn't anticipate. The script doesn't adapt. It doesn't think. It does exactly what you told it — which is now the wrong thing.
WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS:
Customer: "I ordered the blue one but I'm wondering if I should have gotten the red instead. Can I see what it would look like?"
Script: "I don't understand. Would you like to return your order?"
Agent: "Here's the red version on a similar setup. Want me to start an exchange, or just keep this as reference?"
This isn't a bug. It's the nature of scripts. They encode your assumptions at a moment in time. The world moves on. Your script doesn't.
Everyone knows this. Everyone keeps writing scripts anyway. It's insane.
What Agency Actually Means
Agency is the capacity to make decisions within boundaries.
Not unlimited freedom — that's chaos. Not rigid instructions — that's scripts. Agency is the space between: clear outcomes, flexible methods.
SCRIPT
"If customer asks X, respond with Y"
AGENT
"Understand what the customer needs and help them get it"
The script handles one case. The agent handles intent. When something new appears, the script crashes. The agent reasons.
Bounded Autonomy
The key is boundaries. An agent without constraints is dangerous. An agent without agency is just a script with extra steps.
EFFECTIVE BOUNDARIES:
- • Clear outcomes, flexible methods
- • Known escalation points
- • Transparent reasoning
- • Defined resource limits
Good boundaries aren't restrictions. They're context. They tell the agent: here's your domain, here's what success looks like, here's where you ask for help.
Within those boundaries, the agent has full authority. That's not giving up control. That's delegating with clarity.
Make the Shift
Stop writing scripts. Start defining outcomes.
Give an agent a small decision. Watch it reason. See it handle a case you never wrote code for. Feel the difference between hoping your automation survives and knowing it adapts.
That's agency. Not a feature. A fundamentally different way to build.
Scripts encode the past. Agents navigate the future.
Build workflows with real agency.
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