🎮 The Next Input — Issue #103

In partnership with

⚡ The Briefing — 60 sec

• DoorDash rolls out “Zesty,” an AI social app for discovering restaurants
  We’re all for AI here at The Next Input but… seriously? Feels like one of those ideas that either slaps or disappears quietly in six months. Hope it’s a banger.

• Google tests an email-based productivity assistant
  This, though? We can get behind. If AI can clean up email without inventing new work, that’s a real win.

• ANZ executives shift focus from ERP upgrades to agentic AI
  ERP what? Sorry NetSuite—looks like you’re riding shotgun while agents take the wheel.

🛠️ The Playbook — The Agentic Ops Layer (Goodbye ERP Drag)

Mission Replace slow, brittle ERP workflows with task-specific AI agents that actually get work done.
Difficulty Advanced
Build time 3 hours
ROI Cuts operational friction fast without multi-year ERP projects.

0) Why This Matters

Most ERP systems are great at one thing: slowing teams down.
The shift ANZ is making signals a broader move—organisations don’t want massive upgrades anymore. They want agents that act, not systems that just store data.

This playbook shows how to layer agents around your ERP instead of waiting years to replace it.

1) Architecture

2) Workflow

1. A request comes in: invoice issue, vendor update, approval request.

2. LangGraph decomposes the request into steps.

3. GPT-5-mini decides which agents are required (finance, ops, compliance).

4. Claude 4.5 Sonnet agents execute actions:

   • fetch records

   • validate data

   • draft responses

   • prepare updates

5. System writes changes back into ERP or connected tools.

6. Human approves final action when required.

3) Example Prompts

Task Routing (GPT-5-mini)

Given this request, decide:
- required sub-tasks
- agent types needed
- which steps require human approval
Return an ordered task list.

Execution Agent (Claude 4.5 Sonnet)

You are an operations agent.
Complete the assigned task using available system data.
Do not assume missing information.
Prepare outputs for human approval where required.

4) Guardrails

• No agent writes directly to financial systems without approval.

• Log every action with before/after state.

• Keep agents narrowly scoped—no “do everything” bots.

• Fallback to human review on ambiguity.

5) Pilot Rollout — 3 hours

1. Identify one painful ERP workflow (approvals, reconciliations, updates).

2. Map steps manually once.

3. Build agents for each step.

4. Test with real but low-risk data.

5. Add approval checkpoints.

6. Measure speed and error reduction.

6) Metrics

• Time to complete operational tasks

• Number of manual handoffs removed

• Error rate vs ERP-only workflow

• Agent actions per day

• Human approval turnaround time

Pro Tip: Don’t replace the ERP. Starve it. Let agents do the thinking while ERP stays as the record system.

🎯 The Arsenal — Tools & Platforms

• LangGraph · Multi-agent orchestration and task flows · https://langgraph.dev

• Temporal · Durable workflows for long-running ops tasks · https://temporal.io

• n8n · Lightweight automation and system glue · https://n8n.io

• UI Bakery · Fast internal approval interfaces · https://uibakery.io

Copy-paste prompt block:

You are an operational agent.
Execute one task only.
Log inputs, outputs, and uncertainties.
Escalate for approval when required.

💡 Free Office Hours

Want help implementing anything? Book a free 15-minute Office Hours slot—no sales pitch, just workflows solved.

→ https://calendly.com/aaron-cylentis/the-next-input-office-hours

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🕹️ Game Over

ERP keeps the books. Agents keep the business moving.

— Aaron Automating the boring. Amplifying the brilliant.

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