Zapier automations are NOT AI agents.
And yet, many people sell automations as "AI agents." They’re not.
Here’s the difference:
What an AI agent actually is:
A system that, given a problem (even a vague one), figures out the best way to solve it. It decides its own steps and executes them autonomously.
Here's how an AI agent and a regular automation solve the same task:
“Book the cheapest flight from Switzerland to London on May 7th.”
👉 AI agent:
It searches the web, compares multiple flights dynamically, finds the best option, and (ideally) books it.
👉 Zapier automation:
A rigid, predefined workflow that follows explicit step-by-step instructions.
Steps:
1️⃣ Get ChatGPT to generate Python code to scrape Skyscanner.
2️⃣ Run the code (fingers crossed it works).
3️⃣ Scrape Zurich-Heathrow flights.
4️⃣ Scrape Zurich-Stansted flights.
5️⃣ Scrape Geneva flights…
🔹 … Step 15: Get ChatGPT to determine the cheapest flight.
🔹 … Step 16: Open Skyscanner and book it yourself.
Key difference:
Automations follow preset instructions, you tell them exactly what to do. AI agents figure things out on their own.
Both can solve the problem. But agents are flexible, like a human.
For example, if you want to change the flight date with an AI agent, you simply update your initial prompt. The same as changing the dates on Skyscanner.
With Zapier, you need to edit the entire workflow.
Have you tried some of these?
