How to use AI agents: start with one supervised task

By Jeremy Kenerson, Founder at BreadHead.

Facts checked October 17, 2026

To use an AI agent, give it one small task with a clear input, tell it what it may and may not do, and check what it hands back before anyone uses it. Begin with work you already do by hand, so you know what a good result looks like. Then widen the task only after the checks keep passing.

How do you use AI agents at work?

Pick one task, write its limits, run it with a person watching, and review each result. Use these steps for a first try.

1. Pick a task with a clear start and finish. For example, turning approved meeting notes into a short summary.
2. Write what the agent gets. Name the files, notes or records it may read.
3. Name what it hands back. A draft, a list or a filled-in form you can read.
4. List what it may not do. For example, send anything, change a record or contact a customer.
5. Name the person who checks it. That person reads the result before it's used.
6. Run it a few times on work you know. Compare each result with what you'd have done.
7. Fix the instructions, then run it again. Change one thing at a time.

Write the task down before the first run. An agent job brief with the input, task and handback keeps each run the same.

What should an AI agent be allowed to do?

Only what you'd let a new helper do in their first week. Keep the list short and specific.

Use this check:

• Can it read only the files and records the task needs?
• Does it hand back a draft for a person to finish?
• Does a person approve anything that leaves the business?
• Can you pause it or undo what it did?
• Do you know where its results are saved?

Comparing platforms? See the best AI workflow automation tools.

Plan ahead if you want an agent to act on its own later. Mark each point where a person must approve, using the agent permission boundary.

How do you check what an AI agent hands back?

Read the result beside the input it used, and check each claim, name and number before anyone acts on it. Treat each one as unchecked until it matches the input.

Example

Your agent turns approved notes into a summary for staff. Before you share it:

• Does each point match the notes?
• Did it add a task, a date or a name the notes don't hold?
• Is anything left out that staff need?
• Would you sign your own name under it?

Copy these blanks for each test run:

• Run number and date: ______
• What matched the input: ______
• What it added or left out: ______
• What you changed in the instructions: ______

With BreadHead, you review and approve the work before it goes public or into use. BreadHead says AI systems do much of the work, and people direct it, check it and approve it.

When the checks keep passing, widen the work in a small trial. Put the review test on the pilot acceptance sheet.

What changed

• October 17, 2026: First version. Facts checked.