What is Workflow automation?
Workflow automation uses software to run the steps of a business process, such as routing, data entry, checks and notifications, with little or no manual handoff between them.
In more detail
A workflow has a trigger (an email arrives, a record changes, a schedule fires), a sequence of steps and an outcome. Rules handle the predictable parts. Adding AI lets the same flow read unstructured input like PDFs and emails and make judgment calls within limits. The gains come from removing waiting and re-keying, not from making any single step faster. Start with a process that is frequent, rule-based and costly in hours. Skip processes that change weekly or depend on unwritten exceptions, since automating a moving target produces maintenance, not savings.
Example
When a new client signs, the flow creates the CRM record, opens a project, sends the onboarding form, books the kickoff and posts to the team channel. A coordinator used to do each of those by hand in separate tabs.