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AI Strategy 6 min• 2024-12-15• By NexForge Team
What Is An AI Employee? (And How It Differs From Basic Automation)
The term 'AI Employee' gets thrown around a lot. Here's a precise definition and what separates a real AI employee from a workflow automation tool.
An AI Employee is a software system that autonomously executes multi-step workflows, uses tools, makes decisions, and communicates with humans — continuously, at scale, without supervision.
How It Differs From Automation
| Feature | Automation | AI Employee |
|---|---|---|
| Handles exceptions | No | Yes |
| Makes decisions | No | Yes |
| Learns from feedback | No | Yes |
| Communicates naturally | No | Yes |
| Handles ambiguity | No | Yes |
A Zapier workflow that sends an email when a form is submitted is automation. An AI SDR that researches a prospect, writes a personalised email, handles their response, books a meeting, and updates the CRM is an AI Employee.
#AI employee#automation#fundamentals
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