The Seven Layers Between a Model and an AI Workforce | Symbiote

There are seven layers between picking a model and running an actual AI workforce. Layer one is the model. Everyone solves this. It's procurement, not strategy.

Layer two is the harness. Can it run unattended, on a schedule, survive a crash, and resume where it stopped? Most teams have a script and a person who reruns it. That person is the harness and they don't scale.

Layer three is orchestration. One agent is a script. Many agents cooperating are an organization. Division of labor, handoffs, review, and a definition of done.

Then memory, because your agents have amnesia and you're paying for it every session. Then institutional wisdom, which almost nobody has even named. Then tools, and finally, communication between agents.

And guess what? Most companies never get past layer three.