In this guide
The hidden work between programs
Moving one piece of work forward often means switching programs. The information you need sits in one system. The decision happens in another, often email. The next action has to be completed somewhere else again.
Each switch is small. But every time, a person carries the context across by hand: copying a reference, re-reading the history, re-keying a detail. That carrying is work, and it is where mistakes and delays creep in.
In short
Agentic software connects the tools you already rely on through a shared workspace, so information, decisions and actions move together instead of people carrying the context between programs.
From separate programs to connected capabilities
Agentic software does not usually ask you to throw your tools away, although what it can do with each one depends on the access that tool provides. It treats each connected tool as a capability the work can use. Through a shared workspace, it can:
- Gather authorised information from the systems that hold it, for the case in front of you.
- Support the decision, by putting that information in front of the person who needs to make the call.
- Coordinate the next steps across the systems involved, once a person has approved them.
People and AI agents use the same connected tools, under the same permission checks and business rules, with each agent's access limited to its role.
Keep useful tools. Reduce the manual carrying between them.
Where to look first
Pick one piece of work your team does often and count the programs it passes through, and the times someone copies something from one to another. That count is usually the clearest sign of where connecting the tools would help most.
If you would like a second pair of eyes on it, start a conversation.
Questions
Frequently asked.
Often you can keep them. The aim is to connect the tools you already rely on rather than replace them, but what can be connected depends on the access and capabilities each tool provides.
Integrations connect systems, and workflows can coordinate predefined steps between them. An agent can use those connections to select suitable next steps when the work varies, within defined permissions.
Only the systems and actions its role allows. Access is limited to what the agent needs for its job, and its actions are recorded.
Written by
Mare Pomana
Plumb Digital