Look at who chooses the next step.
These terms overlap in product marketing. An assistant may have tools; a workflow may contain an agent step. Ask what the product actually executes, what context it keeps and where it needs your decision.
| Mode | Useful example | What to inspect |
|---|---|---|
| Assistant | Rewrite the notes you paste in | Accuracy, tone and missing context |
| Agent | Find relevant sources and prepare an answer | Tool access, chosen actions and stopping conditions |
| Workflow | Read a known source, draft a summary, save it | Inputs, step order, failure handling and triggers |
Start with the amount of repetition.
More autonomy is not automatically less work. Include the time you spend supervising and correcting when judging whether a system helps.
- For a one-off task, a conversation may be enough.
- For an exploratory task, an agent can help choose a path, with clear limits.
- For known recurring work, a workflow makes the process easier to inspect and repeat.
Jarvis combines the three.
You can talk to Jarvis, ask it to use tools, or describe a workflow. Memory and goals provide context; awareness can surface patterns worth discussing. The workflow engine handles defined execution steps.
That combination is useful when a successful one-off task needs to become a routine. Test the routine with explicit inputs and boundaries before adding a live trigger.
By the Jarvis team · Reviewed