Playbook · Article 05 · HR Strategy & Business Partnership

Bring Agents Into a Team

A six-step plan to start using AI agents in a team. Safely, fairly, and with a clear owner for every agent.

6Plays
8Weeks
6Tools
FreeTo use
TASKS ASK A PERSON OWNER
01

At a glance

What it is

A plan for your first AI agent

AI agents can now do real work. They book meetings, chase payments and update records.

That saves time. It also raises new questions. Who checks the work? What can the agent promise? Who owns it when its maker leaves?

This plan helps you answer them early. Before the agent starts, not after a mistake.

Who it is for

The people who set it up

HRBPs, team managers, and the IT or ops lead who sets up the agent.

When to use it

Three moments

  • A team wants to use an AI agent for real work.
  • An agent is already running, but no one owns it.
  • A manager asks, "What happens to my team's jobs?"
Kyun, the Mimansa loris
Kyun

Your team wants an AI agent. Good. Before it starts, let's agree who checks its work and who owns it.

02

The six plays

About 8 weeks. Plays 1 to 4 take three weeks. Plays 5 and 6 come after the agent has run for 30 days. The agent goes live at the end of week 3.

  1. 1Map the tasksWeek 1
  2. 2Set the agent's rulesWeek 2
  3. 3Name an ownerWeek 2
  4. 4Tell the teamWeek 3
  5. 5Check the work at 30 daysWeek 7
  6. 6Review roles and gradesWeek 8
1
Play 1 of 6

Map the tasks

Week 1

The manager leads this, with the HRBP.

  1. List 10 to 15 tasks for each role in the team.
  2. Mark each one: a person does it, the agent helps, or the agent does it.
  3. Circle the tasks that need judgment or face a customer.
Kyun

Start with the work, not the tool.

PERSONHELPSAGENT
2
Play 2 of 6

Set the agent's rules

Week 2

The manager and the IT lead write it. The HRBP checks it.

  1. Write down what the agent may do.
  2. Set limits on money and on promises.
  3. Say when it must stop and ask a person.
Kyun

An agent should know when to stop and ask.

PERMISSION SIGNED
3
Play 3 of 6

Name an owner

Week 2

The manager does this.

  1. Name one owner and one backup for each agent.
  2. Add the agent to the team's Agent Owner Register.
  3. Agree who takes over if the owner leaves.
Kyun

Every agent needs a person's name next to it.

OWNER
4
Play 4 of 6

Tell the team

Week 3

The manager leads this, with the HRBP.

  1. Explain what the agent does, and what it does not do.
  2. Make one rule clear: if you send the agent's work, you own it.
  3. Add the agent to new joiner induction.
Kyun

People worry less when they hear it from you first.

NEW:AGENT
5
Play 5 of 6

Check the work at 30 days

Week 7

The agent's owner and the manager do this together.

  1. Check 10 pieces of the agent's work.
  2. Count the mistakes and the fixes people had to make.
  3. Ask the team what got easier and what got harder.
Kyun

Thirty days in. Now look at the real work.

DAY 30
6
Play 6 of 6

Review roles and grades

Week 8

The HRBP leads this, with the rewards team.

  1. Look at what each role does now.
  2. Check if the grade and pay still fit the work.
  3. Keep some learning tasks for juniors, even if the agent could do them.
Kyun

Last play. Is each job still fairly graded?

ROLE GRADE
03

Example and how-to

Filled-in example · Agent Permission Card

Payment Reminder Agent

Accounts receivable team, 9 people, Bengaluru. Copy the shape, not the words.

Owner · backup
Priya R., AR lead · Arjun M., senior analyst
It may
Send payment reminders to customers; Update the record after each reply; Book a call with the AR lead.
It must never
Offer a discount; Change a due date; Promise a refund.
Money limit
It cannot commit any money.
Flag doubt when
A customer says the amount is wrong.
Stop and ask a person when
The customer is upset, asks to change terms, or the bill is over Rs 5 lakh.
Review
90 days after go-live.
How-to guide · 3 minutes

How to write an Agent Permission Card

  1. Name the agent and its owner.
  2. List the tasks it will do.
  3. List what it must never do.
  4. Set a money limit. Zero is a fine limit.
  5. Say when it must flag doubt.
  6. Say when it must hand over to a person.
  7. Get the manager and HRBP to sign. Review it in 90 days.
04

What you get

6 free tools. Each one is a single page or a single sheet.

Kyun

That's everything you need. Each tool fits on one page.

05

Why it matters, and what's next

2 to 5

people can already run a team of 50 to 100 AI agents that handle a whole process, like onboarding a customer.

Source: McKinsey, The Agentic Organization: Contours of the Next Paradigm for the AI Era, Sept 2025
93%

of business leaders in India plan to use AI agents to add to their team's capacity in the next 12 to 18 months.

Source: Microsoft, Work Trend Index 2025, India findings (part of a 31-market survey of 31,000 workers, Feb-Mar 2025)
41%

of leaders expect their teams to train AI agents within five years. 36% expect their teams to manage them.

Source: Microsoft, Work Trend Index 2025: The Year the Frontier Firm Is Born (31,000 workers in 31 markets, plus 9,037 leaders; Feb-Mar 2025)
Kyun

Next, help your juniors keep learning.