AI First with Adam and Andy From Workflows to Agent Teams: Wade Foster on How AI Reshapes Enterprise Automation
Apr 1, 2026
Wade Foster, co-founder and CEO of Zapier who builds integrations and automation at scale. He contrasts deterministic workflows with agentic AI systems. He describes Zapier’s agent and copilot work, how agents can augment or troubleshoot workflows, and why organizations will shift to humans managing teams of agents.
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Clear Difference Between Workflows And Agents
- Agents receive a goal and choose steps; workflows follow deterministic, human-defined steps.
- Wade Foster contrasts agents (LLMs + tools, probabilistic) with workflows (one-two-three steps, predictable outputs).
Zapier's Three AI Levers
- Zapier's recent innovations: an agents product, a copilot that builds agents/workflows, and an MCP server to expose Zapier actions to other LMs.
- These combine to let LLMs act with 'arms and legs' across 8,000+ connected tools for fluid automation.
Run Stable Processes As Workflows
- Prefer deterministic workflows when you care about cost and reliability in the enterprise.
- Use AI inside workflows when needed, but lock proven processes into deterministic automation to reduce token costs and failures.