Lesson 5 of 10 · AI Agents and Automation That Finish Work
In this lesson. Measure task success, not how clever the trace looks.
What you will learn
- A definition of task success
- A small scenario suite
- Steps-to-done and takeover rate
Walkthrough
Traces are interesting; completion rate is the product. You will define success for a task, build a small suite of scenarios, and track steps-to-done and human takeovers. Then you will change one prompt or tool and rerun the suite so you know if you improved anything.
Work through the ideas in order. After each point, pause and connect it to a task you already do — a document, a workflow, or a feature you own. The goal of AI Agents and Automation That Finish Work is usable skill, not a pile of notes.
If something is unclear, rewrite it in your own words before you continue. Teaching the step back to yourself is the fastest way to see gaps.
Practice
Write five scenarios for your agent and the pass/fail rule for each.
Keep the first attempt small. A finished example you can reuse beats a perfect plan you never run.
Check your understanding
- Can you explain the goal of this lesson in one sentence to a teammate?
- Where would you apply “A definition of task success” in your own work this week?
- What would you change on a second pass of the practice?
Next. Continue to the following lesson when the practice has a real artifact, even a rough one.