Workflow platform
Also called: automation platform
A workflow platform — n8n, Zapier, Make, Power Automate — is where you build automations that run on triggers: a schedule fires or an email lands, a chain of connected steps executes, and the same work happens the same way every time.
A workflow platform — n8n, Zapier, Make, Power Automate — is where you build automations that run on triggers: a schedule fires or an email lands, a chain of connected steps executes, and the same work happens the same way every time, whether or not you’re at your desk. It’s the connective tissue between the systems you already use, and it’s the right home for exactly one shape of work: things that repeat often enough to justify the build.
Why it matters: The platform doesn’t think — the graph runs the steps you wired, and input that’s slightly different from what you anticipated means failure or a confused output; an AI node inside doesn’t change the deterministic shape. The two classic misuses: automating the twice-a-year task (a checklist was the answer, and the workflow becomes a monument to a lost weekend) and automating before the manual process has stabilized (you encode month three’s understanding and maintain the wrong version forever). The 100-times rule is the gate.