Learning how to run a full-day Agentic AI Strategy Workshop allows companies to compress months of debate into one decisive day. This intensive session uses a clear structure to maintain high energy while integrating critical governance, architecture, and change management considerations, delivering a tangible roadmap, not just another slide deck.
The most successful workshops follow proven frameworks for agent discovery and refinement, like the one offered by the DAIN Studios playbook. This guide distills these expert patterns into a practical one-day agenda tailored for the enterprise challenges of 2025.
The Workshop Agenda: A Five-Block Structure
The workshop is organized into five distinct blocks, each designed to produce a specific, concrete deliverable:
- Context & Framing: Establish shared goals, define constraints, and set responsible AI guardrails.
- Agent Discovery: Map current workflows and tag specific pain points that AI can address.
- Opportunity Prioritization: Score potential AI opportunities based on impact, feasibility, and risk.
- Agent Mock-ups: Create detailed blueprints for the top agents, including human-in-the-loop checkpoints.
- Roadmap Synthesis: Define pilot projects, KPIs, owners, and concrete next steps.
An Agentic AI Strategy Workshop follows a five-part agenda: framing goals and guardrails, discovering opportunities by mapping workflows, prioritizing ideas based on impact, creating agent blueprints with human checkpoints, and synthesizing a final roadmap with clear ownership and KPIs. Each step produces a tangible output for the next.
To keep discussions grounded and practical, focus on business outcomes instead of technology. As highlighted in Harvard Business Review guidance, executives should start the day by setting a measurable objective, such as “reduce customer onboarding time by 30%.”
Pre-Workshop Preparation: Participants and Primers
Assemble a cross-functional team including process owners, data architects, risk leads, and change managers. Before the workshop, distribute a concise primer defining agentic AI, outlining governance principles, and asking each participant for their top three process pain points. This pre-work seeds the discussion and avoids starting from scratch.
The primer must also establish norms for human-AI collaboration. Citing established frameworks like UiPath’s best practices, clarify when to use human escalation triggers for low-confidence AI decisions or high-impact actions. Instruct participants to identify processes where mandatory human sign-off is non-negotiable.
Facilitation Techniques to Maintain Momentum
To prevent fatigue and maintain focus, use short timeboxes, keeping each activity under 60 minutes. Alternate between full-group discussions and small breakout sessions to ensure all participants contribute. Use structured templates, like swimlane diagrams, to visually map data sources, decision points, and handoffs.
Keep discussions specific and data-driven with targeted facilitator prompts:
- “What is the system of record for this data?”
- “How do we measure success for this decision?”
- “At what point does risk or compliance need to intervene?”
- “Who is responsible for escalation if the agent fails?”
- “What specific API or tool can the agent use here?”
Integrating Governance and Architecture Throughout the Day
Integrate compliance by design, not as an afterthought. Conclude each workshop block with a five-minute “risk review” where the designated risk lead flags potential privacy, bias, or security concerns. This iterative approach ensures governance is woven into every decision.
Similarly, the technical architect must validate feasibility during the agent mock-up phase, assessing data availability, integration effort, and potential token costs. As a recent Bain report points out, the largest hidden dependency is often the need to modernize core APIs. Identify these technical blockers early to include remediation in the final roadmap.
Ensuring Execution and Avoiding Post-Workshop Stalls
The workshop must conclude with clear, actionable commitments. Capture each pilot project on a one-page charter detailing the problem statement, target metric, baseline data, architecture sketch, project owner, and a 90-day checkpoint. Digitize all materials, and schedule a follow-up meeting within 48 hours to secure budget and finalize timelines. This focus on accountability is what transforms ideas into execution.
