Day 1 · Live Friday 16 October 2026 · 8:00 PM WAT

Foundations: design your first AI agent

Understand what an agent really is, and learn to delegate one real task effectively.

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Session replay will appear here
Recording is published shortly after the live session ends.

1. Using AI vs. directing a system

Most people chat with an AI one prompt at a time. Building an agent means giving a system a clear goal, the context it needs, the tools to act, and a boundary it must not cross — then letting it run a repeatable piece of work. Day 1 is about shifting from using AI to directing it.

2. The vocabulary that matters

  • AI — the model that thinks and generates.
  • Agent — an AI that is given a job, tools, and limits, and works toward a goal.
  • Workflow — a repeatable sequence of steps an agent follows.
  • Cron / schedule — a trigger that runs a task on a fixed clock.
  • Event / webhook — a trigger that fires the moment something happens.
A task that must run immediately after something happens (e.g. right after a call) usually needs an event/webhook or a polling loop — not just a clock schedule. Keep the two trigger types separate.

3. The agent's anatomy

Every useful agent has six parts:

  1. Goal — what success looks like.
  2. Context — background the agent needs.
  3. Reasoning — how it thinks about the task.
  4. Tools — what it can use to act.
  5. Action — what it actually does.
  6. Feedback — how you review and improve it.

4. The orchestrator mindset

You are not writing code. You are delegating — deciding what to hand off, to which agent, with which instructions, and where a human must still approve. The best starting point is a recurring task with a clear input and a clear output.

5. Common beginner mistakes

  • Giving an agent a vague goal with no definition of done.
  • Handing it too many tools or too much freedom at once.
  • Skipping the approval step on anything commercial or external.
  • Expecting one giant "do everything" agent instead of small, reviewable workflows.

6. A simple agent loop

An agent receives an input → reasons with its context → uses its tools → produces an output → is reviewed → learns from feedback → runs again. Day 1 explores this loop on paper with a real example: turning meeting notes into clear next actions.

Example: a customer enquiry arrives → the agent drafts a response from your business context → a person approves it → the next step is recorded for follow-up.

Your assignment

  1. List five tasks in your business you could delegate.
  2. Pick one painful, recurring task with a clear input and output.
  3. Write down: the selected task, the outcome you want, the context needed, and the approval limits.
Submit your chosen task, desired outcome, relevant context, and approval limits when the assignment form opens. Building starts on Day 2.