What is business automation?

A workflow is a trigger plus the steps connected to it. The trigger starts the run; each step takes the output of the previous one, does its job and passes the result on.

Data travels between steps. The customer name from the trigger ends up in the notification text and in the title of the activity the workflow creates.

One of five trigger types: a record event, a schedule, an inbound request, a manual start or another workflow.

• Record event: starts when a record is created, updated or deleted. A new lead, a completed work order or a submitted purchase request are record events.
• Schedule: runs at an interval, daily, weekly or on a given day of the month. The 09:00 overdue-invoice list is a scheduled workflow.
• Inbound request: starts when another system calls the workflow's own address. Creating a lead when your website form is submitted works this way, and you can require requests to be signed.
• Manual start: you run the workflow with a button, or to test it.
• Called by another workflow: one workflow runs another as a step, so steps shared by several workflows live in one place.

This workflow shows an AI step splitting records into three paths. It runs as soon as a lead is created:

• Trigger: a new lead is created in the CRM.
• AI classifies: it reads the lead's title, company, source and notes. Buying intent, budget or urgency means hot; interest without a clear need means warm; no relevant interest means cold.
• If hot: the lead's priority is raised and admins get a panel notification.
• If warm: a follow-up call is scheduled for the next day.
• If cold: the workflow ends and leaves the record as it is.

You adjust the classification instructions and the follow-up delay to your own sales process. In PureField this workflow ships as a ready template: Qualify new leads with AI.

First the event that starts the workflow, then who needs to know what when it happens. Answer these before you build:

• What starts it: a record changing, or a time of day arriving?
• Which records does it read, and which does it create or update?
• Who is told, and through which channel: panel notification, email, team chat?
• At which point does a person need to make the call?
• If a step fails, should the run stop or carry on?
• Which sample record will you test with before you activate it?

Start with one trigger and one notification and watch it for a few days. Add conditions and branches after that.

In PureField, workflows live under AI › Workflows, and you build one in one of three ways: install a ready template, connect steps on the canvas, or describe what you want and let AI draft it.

• Templates: ready workflows for sales, service, finance, HR, purchasing and projects. The list shows the ones that match the modules your company uses. Installed templates start inactive, so you review them before switching them on.
• Canvas: every step is a card on a grid canvas. You connect a card's output to the next card's input. Opening a card shows its settings and the data going into and out of that step.
• Create with AI: you write a sentence such as "Every morning at 09:00, find overdue invoices and email me a summary". The steps and connections appear on the canvas; you review and save. Each draft uses 1 AI credit.

Test run runs the workflow straight away. A green ring spins around the step that is running, and finished steps show a check mark or an error mark. Test with input lets you feed the workflow sample data. The Runs tab lists past runs; open one to see each step's input and output. You can retry a failed run or cancel one that is still going.

For every step you choose what happens on an error: stop the run, carry on, or send the failed item down a separate error path. Connect a notification step to that path and the person responsible hears about it.

A workflow can reach the modules your company uses and the records the person who saved it is allowed to see. Every panel user builds workflows within their own permissions; company owners and admins see and edit all of the company's workflows. Each successful run of an AI step uses 1 AI credit.

Workflows are included in PureExecutive and available as an add-on for PurePioneer. See the pricing page to compare packages.

Publish a workflow to the workflow library, or export it as a file. What you share is a copy; your own workflow stays as it is.

• My company: use Share to library in the editor to publish within your company. Every panel user in your company can see it and install it in their own account.
• Community: a company owner or admin can open a workflow to all PureField users. It goes live after PureField approves it.
• Shared by me: follow the workflows you have shared and their approval status, upload a new version or unpublish. People who already installed it keep their workflows running as before.
• Export and import: download the workflow as a .json file and load it into another PureField account. An imported workflow starts inactive.

Sharing removes secret headers, chat channel addresses and fixed record numbers from the copy; community shares also remove email addresses. Whoever installs the workflow fills those fields in. An installed workflow runs with the installer's permissions, and any step that uses a record type outside them is deactivated.