What is Workflow Automation?

A single automation does one thing; a workflow chains many. When a deal closes in the CRM, create the project, copy the brief into it, notify the channel, and schedule the kickoff — one trigger, four systems, a branch for enterprise deals that also books legal. Tools like Zapier, n8n and Make exist for exactly this shape. The strength is determinism: it does the same thing every time, and when it breaks you can point at the step. The weakness is that it only handles the cases you drew.

Agents and workflows aren't rivals so much as different answers to whether the path is known. If it is, draw it — you don't want a model re-deciding a payroll run each month. If it isn't, an agent that reasons over the capability mesh handles the branch you didn't anticipate. Velaris runs the agentic side, and the same discipline applies to both: a step that deletes or sends is destructive-tier and needs approval, and the credentials it runs under are scoped to that run.