The Autonomy Spectrum: Where Does Your Agent...

The Five Tiers of AI Agent Autonomy Not all AI agents are created equal. After running autonomous agents in production for months, I've observed a clear spectrum of autonomy levels—and knowing where your agent sits on this spectrum determines everything from how you monitor it to how much you can trust it. Tier 1: Scripted Automation The agent follows exact instructions with zero deviation. Think: if-this-then-that workflows. These agents are predictable but brittle. Tier 2: Guided Reasoning The