✨ On the Tenth Day of Agents… Agents at Work
Welcome to Day 10! We’ve talked a lot about agents in the context of software development but even for developers, most of the day is spent doing other things. Today, let’s look at how agents can help with knowledge work more broadly.
🧠 What You’ll Learn Today
- Common tasks that are perfect for agents
- How agents reduce busywork across tools
- A real-world example using n8n
💻 How Agents Can Help with Knowledge Work
Knowledge work is all the thinking, organizing, and coordinating that happens around the work:
- Preparing for meetings
- Updating docs, trackers, or dashboards
- Analyzing data and making data-driven decisions
Agents are especially valuable for this kind of work, especially those tasks that are:
- Multi-step
- Repetitive (but not identical)
- Spread across apps
Examples:
- Turn meeting notes into tasks and reminders
- Compile weekly updates from multiple sources
- Track deadlines and automatically nudge people
🚀 Real-World Example: n8n for Knowledge Work
n8n is a great example of how agentic workflows can support a range of types of work.
With n8n, you can build workflows that:
- Listen for events (new form submissions, emails, calendar events)
- Call AI models or agents to reason about the input
- Take action across tools (Slack, Docs, CRM, email, spreadsheets)
If you followed some of our examples with GitLab Duo Agent Platform, the capabilities will look familiar but the tools and implementation are different.
Their website has lots of ideas to get you started. Take a look at their templates to see what I mean: https://n8n.io/workflows/
🛠️ Hands-On Example
Want to go deeper? Try this:
- Sign up for a trial at n8n
- Select a workflow from the list of templates I shared above or use the one I shared below
- Review the workflow diagram, how it works, and setup steps
- Click
Use for freeand start implementing - Update credentials for the tools in your workflow as needed
- Edit agent prompts as needed
- Troubleshoot and iterate
I used this n8n workflow to create a (kinda mid) LinkedIn post about 2026 trends.
If you’re not ready to dive into a full workflow, even skimming the templates will help you understand how agents can fit into your day-to-day.
✍️ Quick Recap
- Agents aren’t just for developers
- Knowledge work is full of agent-friendly tasks
- n8n can help you design agentic workflows across tools
- The biggest win is less busywork
📬 Keep the Streak Going
Next up: how to keep up on what’s happening with agents
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👉 Forward Day 10 to someone drowning admin work