The key to getting great results with Agents is understanding what they are: brilliant minds that need guidance, tools, and clear direction to solve real-world problems effectively.

Think of your Agent as a brilliant university graduate

Imagine hiring someone who just graduated with honors from the world's best university. They studied every subject, can reason through complex problems, and have incredible analytical skills. But here's the thing: they have zero real-world experience and no access to any tools or systems.

This is exactly what an Agent is - a brilliant mind that needs you to:

• Give them access to the tools they need (app integrations)

• Provide clear, comprehensive instructions (detailed tasks)

• Share relevant knowledge and context (upload knowledge)

• Set expectations about how they should work (custom behavior)

They're smart, but they need the right tools

Your brilliant graduate can solve complex problems, but they can't do anything without access to the right systems. In VISS.AI, this means connecting apps to your Agent.

Think of each app integration as giving them login credentials and training for that specific system. Once connected, they can read data, create records, send emails, update spreadsheets - whatever that app allows.

Without apps connected, your Agent is like asking someone to "update the customer database" when they're sitting at an empty desk with no computer.

Clear instructions are everything

Your Agent will do exactly what you ask - but only what you ask. They can't read your mind or assume what you "obviously" meant. The task instructions you provide are their entire world.

Compare these approaches:

Vague: "Handle the new customer signups"

Clear: "Check the 'New Signups' sheet for entries from the last 24 hours. For each new customer, create a contact record in HubSpot with their name, email, company, and set the lead source to 'Website'. Send me a summary of how many were processed."

The second version tells your Agent exactly where to look, what to do, what information to use, and what to report back. This is how you get reliable results.

Knowledge works like expertise, not memory

When you upload knowledge to an Agent, think of it like giving your graduate access to a specialized library. They can't browse it casually - they only get books when they're working on something relevant.

Your Agent doesn't "know" it has knowledge uploaded. Instead, when working on a task, relevant knowledge appears if needed. This means:

• Tasks must relate to the knowledge content to trigger access

• Use specific keywords that match your uploaded content

• "How do I reset a password?" works better than "Tell me about passwords"

Set clear working preferences

Custom behavior is like setting ground rules for how your Agent should work. Instead of repeating the same preferences in every task, you establish patterns they should always follow.

Examples of useful custom behavior:

• "Always use a professional tone in external communications"

• "Format all dates as MM/DD/YYYY"

• "Always create drafts before sending emails"

• "When encountering errors, always send Philip a message in Slack with details"

Understand their natural limits

Even brilliant graduates have limits. Your Agent can handle complex reasoning but struggles with:

• Very long tasks (they start forgetting early steps after multiple actions, e.g. 10+ actions in a row)

• Processing hundreds of records (their working memory gets overwhelmed)

• Tasks requiring split-second timing (they think through each step)

When you hit these limits, consider creating Functions instead - these run as code and handle large-scale, fast, or highly repetitive work perfectly.

Two approaches: exploration vs. precision

We recommend working with Agents in two ways:

Exploration mode: Give them a broad task and watch how they approach it. This is great for discovering new workflows or seeing how they interpret your needs. Be prepared to guide them along the way.

Precision mode: Provide detailed instructions, connect the right apps, upload relevant knowledge, and set clear behavior. This gets you reliable, repeatable results.

Both approaches work - choose based on whether you're experimenting or executing.

The mindset shift

Stop thinking of Agents as magic black boxes. Start thinking of them as capable team members who need the same things any new hire would need: access to systems, clear instructions, relevant training materials, and an understanding of how you prefer things done.

The more you invest in setting them up properly - connecting apps, writing clear tasks, uploading knowledge, and setting behavior - the more valuable they become. They'll consistently deliver results that match your expectations because you've given them everything they need to succeed.

Your Agent isn't trying to guess what you want. It's trying to perfectly execute what you've told it to do, using the tools you've provided, with the knowledge you've shared. Set them up for success, and they'll consistently deliver.