Beyond single tasks: automating entire workflows
The real power of an AI agent is not in doing one thing at a time. It is in handling entire workflows, sequences of five, ten, or twenty steps that previously required you to stay involved at every stage.
Think about what happens after a client meeting. You need to extract action items, draft follow-up emails, update your project tracker, create a summary for absent stakeholders, and set up the next meeting. Each task is straightforward. But together, they take 45 minutes of coordination that you usually push to "later," which often means "never."
Claude Cowork handles these multi-step processes by working through each step sequentially, using the output from one step as the input for the next. It reads your files, creates new documents, updates spreadsheets, and drafts emails, all in a single session.
This guide covers 10 workflow automation scenarios you can run with this AI agent today. Each one replaces a multi-step process that would normally take 30 minutes to several hours.
For browser-based automations using the Claude in Chrome extension, see our dedicated browser automation guide. For a broader overview of all agent use cases, check out our complete guide to AI agent use cases.
What you need before starting
This guide uses Claude Cowork. If you have not set it up yet, start with our setup guide. Workflow automation prompts may require different tools depending on the workflow:
- File access (all workflows): Grant Cowork access to your working folder when starting a session. This is required for every prompt below.
- Email integration (some workflows): For workflows that include drafting or sending emails, enable the Gmail connector in Settings > Connectors.
- Calendar integration (some workflows): For scheduling-related workflows, enable the Google Calendar connector.
- Web research (some workflows): Cowork has built-in web search for workflows that require online research. No additional setup needed.
Each example below notes what it requires.
1. New client onboarding workflow
Client onboarding involves dozens of small tasks that are easy to forget individually but collectively determine the client's first impression of your organization.
Requires: File access
"We have a new client, Parkview Associates, starting next week. Our primary contact is Sarah Johnson (sarah.johnson@parkview.com). Execute the full client onboarding workflow: First, create a new client folder under our Clients directory using our standard template structure (subfolders for: Communications, Deliverables, Planning, Meeting Notes, and Administrative). Next, generate a welcome packet document that includes our company overview, the project team bios from 'Team_Bios.docx', our communication protocols, and key milestones for the first 30 days. Then create a kickoff meeting agenda covering: introductions, project scope review, timeline walkthrough, communication preferences, and next steps. Draft an introduction email to Sarah welcoming her and attaching the welcome packet. Finally, create a master checklist of all first-week deliverables with owner assignments and due dates. Put everything in the new client folder and flag anything you need additional information for."
This turns a 60-minute onboarding process into a 5-minute review. The AI agent handles the repetitive setup while you focus on the personal touch of actually meeting the client.
2. Meeting follow-up workflow
What happens after meetings often matters more than the meeting itself. But follow-up tasks frequently get lost because people jump straight into their next meeting.
Requires: File access (+ Gmail connector for sending emails)
"I just uploaded the notes from our two-hour strategy session ('Strategy_Session_Notes_Feb18.docx'). Execute the complete follow-up workflow: First, extract every action item mentioned in the notes. For each one, identify the owner, the deliverable, and the deadline (if specified; if not, suggest a reasonable one based on the context). Next, draft individual follow-up emails to each person who received action items, listing their specific tasks with deadlines. Then create a meeting summary for distribution to the six stakeholders who were not present, covering: key decisions made, topics discussed, action items assigned, and the date of the next meeting. Finally, add all the action items to our project tracker spreadsheet ('Project_Tracker.xlsx') in a new tab labeled 'Strategy Session Feb 18.' Put the emails and summary in a 'For Review' subfolder so I can approve everything before anything gets sent."
The "For Review" folder is a key pattern for AI agent workflows. It lets the agent do all the work while you maintain control over what actually goes out. This is especially important when the workflow produces emails or client-facing documents.
3. Invoice and receipt processing
Processing invoices and receipts is tedious, repetitive, and error-prone when done manually. This AI agent can extract data from documents and organize it systematically.
Requires: File access
"I have a folder called 'February_Receipts' containing approximately 30 receipt images and PDF invoices from this month's business expenses. For each receipt or invoice, extract: the vendor name, date, total amount, payment method if visible, and the expense category (meals, travel, software, office supplies, professional services, or other). Create a comprehensive expense spreadsheet called 'February_2026_Expenses.xlsx' with a row for each receipt and columns for all the extracted fields. Add a summary tab showing: total spending by category, total spending overall, and a comparison to our monthly budget of $5,000 for discretionary expenses. Flag any receipts where the amount exceeds $500 for my review. If any receipts are too blurry or unclear to read, note them in a separate 'Needs Review' tab with the filename."
This turns a shoebox of receipts into an organized expense report. The flagging system for large amounts and unclear receipts keeps you informed without requiring you to look at every single document.
4. Vendor evaluation process
Selecting a new vendor requires gathering information from multiple sources and organizing it for decision-making. This is a perfect workflow for an AI agent because each step feeds into the next.
Requires: File access + web search
"We need to select a new project management tool for our team of 30 people. Here are our requirements (attached in 'PM_Requirements.docx'). Execute a full vendor evaluation: First, research the top seven project management tools currently available and identify which ones meet our core requirements. Then, for each qualifying tool, document: pricing for our team size, key features relevant to our requirements, integration capabilities with our existing tools (Slack, Google Workspace, GitHub), notable limitations or concerns from user reviews, and any available case studies from companies similar to ours. Create a comparison matrix spreadsheet with all of this data. Then write a recommendation summary document that includes pros and cons for each option, your top three recommendations ranked, and a suggested next step for each (such as requesting a demo or starting a free trial). Present everything in a format ready for our team discussion."
This replaces what would normally be two or three days of research, tab-switching, and spreadsheet-building with a single prompt that produces a decision-ready package.
5. Travel itinerary planning
Planning business travel involves coordinating flights, hotels, meeting schedules, and logistics documents. Cowork can research options and compile everything into a single itinerary.
Requires: File access + web search
"I need to plan a business trip to Chicago from March 10-12, 2026. I am based in Toronto. Research and compile a travel itinerary that includes: flight options from Toronto Pearson to Chicago O'Hare (departing morning of March 10, returning evening of March 12), hotel options near the Loop area (budget: $200-300/night), and a day-by-day schedule. I have three meetings already confirmed (details in 'Chicago_Meetings.docx'). Build the itinerary around those meetings, including travel time between locations. Also research: the best transportation from O'Hare to downtown, two or three restaurant recommendations near my hotel for client dinners, and the current weather forecast for Chicago that week. Compile everything into a clean travel itinerary document with all the details I need in one place. Include a section for booking links so I can finalize reservations."
This AI agent researches all the components and assembles them into a single reference document. You make the final booking decisions, but all the research and organization is done for you.
6. Event planning coordination
Planning a company event, workshop, or offsite involves tracking dozens of parallel workstreams. An AI agent can set up the entire project structure and handle the research.
Requires: File access + web search
"We are planning a team offsite for 25 people on April 15, 2026, in the Toronto area. Budget is $5,000 total. Help me set up and plan this event. First, create a project folder called 'April_Team_Offsite' with subfolders for: Venue, Catering, Activities, Communications, and Budget. Then research five venue options within our budget that can accommodate 25 people for a full day (9 AM to 5 PM) with both a meeting room and breakout space. Create a venue comparison spreadsheet. Next, draft a preliminary agenda for the day that includes: a morning strategy session, a team-building activity after lunch, and an afternoon workshop. Research two or three team-building activity options (not escape rooms, we did that last time). Create a budget tracking spreadsheet that allocates the $5,000 across venue, catering, activities, materials, and contingency. Finally, draft an initial save-the-date email for the team. Put everything in the project folder."
This creates the entire event management infrastructure in one prompt. From here, you can follow up with more specific prompts for each workstream as decisions get made.
7. End-of-month reporting workflow
Monthly reporting is one of those processes that reliably consumes a full day or more, pulling data from multiple sources and packaging it into stakeholder-ready formats.
Requires: File access
"It is the end of February and I need to compile our monthly performance report. Pull data from the following files in my Reports folder: 'February_Sales.xlsx', 'February_Marketing_Metrics.xlsx', 'February_Support_Tickets.xlsx', and 'February_Financials.xlsx'. Create a monthly report with the following sections: an executive summary with the top five highlights and lowlights, a sales performance section (revenue, deals closed, pipeline value, comparison to target), a marketing section (leads generated, conversion rates, campaign performance), a customer support section (ticket volume, resolution time, satisfaction score), and a financial summary (revenue, expenses, profit margin). For each section, compare this month's numbers to January and to the same month last year (the previous reports are in the 'Archive' subfolder). Create the report as a Word document AND as a PowerPoint deck with the key metrics visualized. Flag any metric that changed by more than 15% month-over-month."
This is a workflow you run every month. After the first time, you can reuse and refine the prompt, making each subsequent month faster and more consistent.
8. New employee welcome package
Onboarding a new employee requires assembling information from multiple sources into a personalized welcome experience. An AI agent can prepare everything before their first day.
Requires: File access
"We have a new team member starting on March 3: Alex Rivera, joining as a Product Designer on the Design team, reporting to Maria Santos. Prepare a complete welcome package. Create a personalized welcome document that includes: a welcome message from the team, Alex's first-week schedule (use our standard onboarding template in 'HR_Templates/New_Hire_Schedule.docx' and customize it for the Design team), key contacts with names and roles (the Design team roster is in 'Team_Directory.xlsx'), links to important tools and resources (listed in 'Tool_Access_Guide.docx'), and a 30-60-90 day goals framework for a Product Designer role. Then create a manager prep document for Maria that includes: suggested one-on-one topics for the first week, a checklist of things to set up before Alex arrives (desk, equipment, tool access), and recommended buddy system pairing from the Design team. Put everything in a new folder called 'Onboarding_Alex_Rivera' under the HR folder."
This ensures every new hire gets a thorough, personalized onboarding experience regardless of how busy the team is on their start date.
9. Weekly team status compilation
Managers spend hours every week collecting updates from their team and consolidating them into a coherent picture. An AI agent can pull information from multiple sources and create a unified status report automatically.
Requires: File access (+ Gmail connector for sending)
"Compile our weekly team status report. Pull information from the following sources: each team member's weekly update document in the 'Weekly_Updates' folder (there should be one from each of the eight people on our team), the project tracker spreadsheet ('Project_Tracker.xlsx') for current milestone status, and the support ticket dashboard export ('Support_Summary_Week8.xlsx') for any escalated issues. Create a consolidated weekly status report with these sections: an executive summary of the week's highlights and blockers, a project-by-project status update showing what moved forward and what is stuck, individual contributor highlights worth calling out, any risks or blockers that need leadership attention, and priorities for next week. Format it as a clean one-page document. Also draft a brief email to the leadership team with the executive summary and the full report attached. Put the email in a 'For Review' folder."
This turns the painful weekly ritual of chasing updates and writing summaries into a five-minute review process. The AI agent does the gathering and synthesis; you add judgment and context.
10. Quarterly business review preparation
Preparing for a QBR involves pulling data from multiple departments, creating presentation materials, and assembling supporting documents. This multi-hour preparation process is a perfect target for automation.
Requires: File access
"Prepare the materials for our Q1 quarterly business review meeting. Pull data from the following files: 'Q1_Revenue.xlsx', 'Q1_Pipeline.xlsx', 'Q1_Customer_Metrics.xlsx', 'Q1_Marketing_Results.xlsx', and 'Q1_Product_Roadmap.docx'. Create three deliverables: First, a PowerPoint presentation (maximum 20 slides) covering: Q1 financial performance vs targets, customer acquisition and retention metrics, marketing campaign results, product milestones achieved, and priorities for Q2. Include speaker notes for each slide. Second, a detailed appendix document with the supporting data, calculations, and methodology behind each metric in the presentation. Third, a one-page executive summary that a board member could read in two minutes and understand our Q1 performance. For every metric, show the Q1 actual number, the target, and the variance. Flag any metric where we missed the target by more than 10%. Save everything in a new folder called 'Q1_QBR_Materials'."
QBR preparation is one of the highest-value workflows to automate because it happens every quarter and typically consumes an entire day of a senior person's time. The AI agent handles the data compilation and formatting while you focus on the narrative and strategic commentary.
Tips for effective workflow automation
Use the "For Review" pattern. For any workflow that produces outward-facing content (emails, reports to stakeholders), have Cowork save everything to a review folder first. This keeps you in control while letting the AI agent do the heavy lifting.
Start with workflows you repeat. The biggest time savings come from automating processes you do weekly or monthly. A workflow you automate once and run twelve times a year gives you twelve times the return.
Describe the full workflow, not just individual steps. The power of automation is in the connections between steps. Instead of "create a folder" and then "write a document," give Cowork the entire sequence so it can handle the handoffs between each stage.
Build in error handling. Add phrases like "flag anything you are unsure about" or "note any files that could not be processed" to your prompts. This ensures the AI agent tells you about problems rather than making assumptions.
