What Is an Automation?

Build automations that connect triggers, AI agents, business rules, and human approvals on one shared canvas. Glow is an agentic automation platform with built-in human governance. Configure tool approvals and Human Review checkpoints where the process needs a person’s decision.

At a glanceVerified in app · Oct 30, 2026

Use it to: Connect triggers, AI agents, business rules, app actions, and human approvals on one shared canvas
Find it: Automations → New Automation, or describe the goal in Workflow Assistant
Output: Per-Step structured JSON payloads recorded in the Execution Log and each Step's Executions tab

Build with Workflow Assistant or configure Steps yourself, and collaborate on the same canvas. Triggers start runs; connected Steps define the work, routing and approval points. Approval is configured for the actions that need it, not applied automatically to every action.

The trigger-action pattern

Every automation follows the same pattern:

1. TriggerAn event starts the runAn HTTP request arrives, a schedule fires, an app event occurs, or someone presses Click to start.2. Logic & AISteps process and route dataConditions, loops, data tools, and governed AI Steps inspect inputs, transform records, and choose the branch.3. Action & ReviewApproved work completesConnected app actions and optional Human Review checkpoints update records, send messages, and log the run.

This pattern scales from a two-step automation to a branching process with dozens of steps.

A Real-World Analogy

Think of an automation like an assembly line. Raw materials arrive at one end (the trigger). Each station along the line adds or transforms something (the actions), and a finished product rolls off the other end.

If one station needs a part from an earlier station, it can reach back and grab it. A Step in Glow can reference an earlier Step’s output when that source ran on the selected path. It need not be the immediately preceding Step.

Example: Classify a Lead

Take a request like: “When a contact form is submitted, classify the lead’s intent from their message, then add the contact and classification to our CRM.”

In Glow, that becomes three connected steps on the canvas:

1. Webhook Trigger2. AI Prompt3. CRM App Action

Listens for form submissions and captures the submitted data.

1. Webhook Trigger

Reads the form data you reference and classifies the lead’s intent. Choose JSON or Separate fields for structured results; asking for JSON in the prompt alone does not select the output format.

2. AI Prompt

Uses the mapped contact fields and classification to create a record in your CRM.

3. CRM App Action

To enrich a lead with external company facts or call custom endpoints, see Choose the Right Step.

You do not need to plan the entire automation up front. Start with a trigger and one action, test it, then extend the chain step by step.

Verify it works

Run: Connect a Trigger to an Action Step on the canvas and click Run in the bottom dock.
You should see: Each connected Step turns green as it completes, and its Executions tab records the output payload.

What’s Next?

👉 Steps and Connections →: learn how steps, links and branches form the canvas.
Build a working automation end to end in Quickstart: Your First Automation.