What's the difference between automation (Zapier, n8n, Make) and AI agents?

Tools like Zapier, Make and n8n run fixed recipes you design in advance: when X happens, do Y, then Z, the same steps every time, which makes them cheap and reliable. An AI agent adds a language model that can read the situation, make decisions and choose its own next steps, which makes it flexible but also slower, pricier and less predictable. General agents such as ChatGPT Work, Claude and Manus now take a goal, work across your apps and hand back finished work. Most founders still need a plain workflow with one AI step inside it (e.g. 'summarize this email' or 'draft a reply'); save agents for tasks that require judgment.