The Spectrum of Autonomy

Imagine hiring a new assistant. On day one, would you hand over the company bank card? Of course not. You'd give them small tasks, check their work, and give them more freedom as they earn your trust. AI agents deserve exactly the same treatment.

• A new assistant
• No bank card on day one
• Trust is earned

From chatbot to team

Think of autonomy as a scale. A chatbot just answers. A workflow follows fixed steps that you wrote. An agent chooses its own steps. And a team of agents divides the work between them. As you move right, they can do more, but they become harder to predict. It's a trade.

The levels of trust

For each action, pick a level. Level one, the agent suggests, and a human does it. Level two, the agent does it, but a human approves first. Level three, the agent does it, and a human reviews later. Level four, it runs alone. Juno might look up orders at level four, and refund large amounts at level two.

Juno, action by action

Here's how that looks in practice. Reading an order is harmless, so that's automatic. Replying to customers starts out as approved, then moves to reviewed. Refunds under fifty dollars can be automatic. Large refunds always need a person. Changing prices? Juno doesn't get that tool at all.

Summary