Event-Driven AI Automation

Key jargon

Term	Plain-language meaning
Event	A recorded fact that something occurred, such as a file arrival or approved request.
Trigger	A condition that starts a workflow in response to an event.
Queue	A buffer that holds work until a consumer can process it.
Dead-letter queue	Storage for messages that repeatedly fail and require investigation.

Key concepts

Events should carry identifiers and references, not unrestricted authority or unnecessary sensitive content.
Queues decouple producers from probabilistic, rate-limited AI workers and enable controlled retry.

Concept map

flowchart LR
    A["Producer emits validated event"] --> B["Queue buffers work"]
    B --> C["AI workflow processes idempotently"]
    C --> D["Complete or dead-letter"]

trigger → authenticate → normalize → classify → propose → validate → approve → act → reconcile → record

Questions

Can the trigger be forged, duplicated, delayed, or replayed?
Which step needs model judgment?
What is deterministic policy?
Which data and credentials are available?
Is the effect idempotent and reversible?
How are partial failure and dead-letter items handled?

Exercise

Design an inbound-email workflow that classifies and drafts but never sends automatically. Include duplicate detection, malicious attachment handling, confidence threshold, human review, and retention.