Definition
A workflow is a defined sequence or graph of activities, decisions, states, and transitions used to achieve an outcome. It can be deterministic, human-operated, agentic, or mixed.
Useful workflows make inputs, ownership, transitions, outputs, and exception paths explicit. They can contain model judgment inside a bounded step while ordinary code controls security-sensitive routing and completion.
The workflow should represent failure as carefully as success. Timeouts, retries, cancellation, compensation, human escalation, and partial completion determine whether the process behaves safely in production.
Distinguish it from nearby terms
A workflow prescribes process structure. An agent may choose actions dynamically within a step or route. Orchestration coordinates workflow execution, and a state machine formalizes its states and valid transitions.
Check your understanding
A claims workflow uses a model to summarize documents, deterministic rules to calculate eligibility, and a human to approve exceptions. It mixes agentic judgment, software control, and accountable review without treating any one layer as the whole system.