From Prompting to Delegating: Working Effectively with AI Agents

AI agents change more than how quickly a task can be completed. They change how work is divided between people and AI. Instead of directing every individual step, you can delegate a defined piece of work—and focus your attention on the decisions that require human judgment.

From prompting to delegating

With a conventional AI assistant, you ask a question, receive an answer, review it, and decide what to ask next. You manage the individual steps.

An AI agent can work differently. You define an outcome and the boundaries within which it may operate. The agent can then determine an approach, perform several actions, and adapt subsequent steps based on what it discovers.

A typical workflow becomes:

Define the work → Agent executes → Human reviews and decides

What should you delegate?

Not every part of work is equally suitable for delegation:

• Scoping: Keep responsibility for defining the actual problem.
• Research: Agents can gather, compare, and organize evidence.
• Analysis: Agents can identify patterns and inconsistencies; humans determine their significance.
• Delivery: Agents can prepare drafts, while humans review and approve them.

A useful principle is to delegate the legwork while retaining the judgment.

Make the handover explicit

A good handover defines five elements:

1. Goal – What outcome should the work support?
2. Evidence – Which sources, data, and tools may be used?
3. Constraints – What must or must not happen?
4. Checkpoints – When should the agent stop for human review?
5. Output criteria – What should the result contain and look like?

Start with low-risk tasks and evaluate the results before expanding the agent's responsibilities. Above all, verify important evidence and conclusions before they influence decisions or reach a client.

AI agents can carry work forward independently—but accountability remains human.