Anthropic’s “Open Skills” Push: Interoperable AI Automation Across Workplaces
Exploring how AI is reshaping the way we think, build, and create — one idea at a time
For years, automation promised relief from repetitive work. Scripts replaced manual steps. Bots filled forms. Workflows triggered actions. But most of it was brittle, effective only in narrow, predictable paths.
What’s changing now is quieter, but far more consequential.
We’re watching the rise of AI systems that don’t just execute instructions, but begin to understand how work itself is done. These systems don’t just run tasks. They encode decisions, context, and institutional memory. In other words, they’re learning how organizations think.
This is the shift behind what many are calling “agentic workflows” or “AI skills.” Instead of prompting a model every time, teams are beginning to define repeatable reasoning patterns: how a contract is reviewed, how a support issue is triaged, how a compliance check actually unfolds. Once defined, those patterns can be reused, refined, and scaled.
It’s a quiet evolution, but a fundamental one. The move from automation to operational intelligence.
From Scripts to Systems That Remember
Traditional automation breaks easily. Change one variable and the entire flow collapses. That’s because scripts operate without understanding context.
The new wave of AI systems approaches work differently. They retain context, reference past decisions, and adapt to nuance. Instead of asking, “What should I do next?” they ask, “What is the goal, and what constraints matter right now?”
This is where things start to feel different.
In practice, it means an AI can understand how a team approves contracts, why certain exceptions exist, or how a specific department interprets risk. That logic becomes reusable. Portable. Transferable across teams and tools.
This shift also reframes what “automation” means. It’s no longer about speed alone. It’s about consistency, institutional memory, and trust. When done right, these systems don’t replace human judgment; they preserve it.
Where the Cracks Still Show
That said, this new layer of intelligence introduces its own risks.
When reasoning becomes embedded in systems, mistakes scale faster. A flawed assumption baked into a “skill” can quietly propagate across departments. And when decisions are automated without transparency, it becomes harder to understand why something happened, not just what happened.
There’s also the challenge of governance. Who owns these decision frameworks? Who audits them? Who updates them when regulations change, or edge cases emerge?
Many teams are discovering that while building AI workflows is easy, maintaining institutional trust in them is not. The technology is moving faster than the processes designed to oversee it.
This is where organizations will either build durable foundations, or accumulate invisible debt.
My Perspective: This Is the New Operating Layer
What we’re seeing isn’t just another productivity wave. It’s the emergence of a new layer in the modern organization, one that sits between people and software.
AI systems are no longer tools you use occasionally. They are becoming part of how work thinks. That’s a profound shift.
The companies that succeed won’t be the ones with the flashiest models, but the ones that treat these systems as institutional infrastructure. They’ll document how decisions are made, design guardrails intentionally, and revisit them often.
We’re moving from software that executes commands to systems that embody judgment. And that’s both powerful and dangerous in equal measure.
The organizations that thrive will be the ones that treat this moment not as a race for automation, but as an opportunity to design how intelligence flows through their business.
AI Toolkit: Tools Shaping This Shift
YourGPT
A customizable AI platform that lets teams build private, secure GPT-powered assistants for real business workflows.
Rask AI
An AI video localization engine that instantly translates, dubs, and subtitles content for global audiences.
Mebot
A personal AI memory assistant that stores, organizes, and recalls information so you don’t have to.
TheySaid
An AI feedback engine that replaces surveys with intelligent conversations to uncover real user insights.
WisperSEO
An AI-driven SEO platform that helps create, optimize, and scale high-performing content effortlessly.
Prompt of the Day: Map Your Invisible Workflows
Prompt:
“Analyze how decisions are made across my team or organization. Identify recurring judgment calls, approvals, or evaluations that happen repeatedly but aren’t formally documented. For each one, explain:
What inputs people rely on
What context or experience influences the decision
Where inconsistencies or delays usually occur
Which parts could be safely standardized or supported by automation
Which parts should remain human-led, and why
Then propose a structured ‘decision map’ showing where AI could assist, where it should only advise, and where it should never intervene.”
Use this to uncover the invisible logic your organization runs on every day, and to decide where intelligence should live, not just where it can be automated.