Rules Engine or AI Agent

In my day-to-day work I see firsthand what companies are planning as part of their AI transformation. Some projects are genuinely exciting and could reasonably be called moonshots. Others, in my view, rest on a basic misconception about what an AI agent actually is. What I keep finding is that many companies are not really looking for an AI agent. They are looking for a business rules engine. When you ask them to describe the specific use case, they describe a deterministic process: a fixed set of steps and rules that must be followed the same way every time. Think of an invoice under a certain amount that needs three matching approvals and an approved vendor before it can be paid. That is classic rules-engine territory—predictable, auditable, and repeatable. ...

September 1, 2026