By: Laura Stash, Executive Vice President of Solutions Architecture at iTech AG
For years, software design has leaned heavily on visual workflows — the chevrons, diagrams, and portals that show users where they are in a process. These visuals have been our map: they make us feel oriented, organized, and in control.
But now we’re entering an agentic era, one where AI can understand intent, manage context, and take action. So it’s worth asking:
Do we still need to see the visual, or can we trust the AI as our guide?
Why Visuals Still Matter
Visual workflows have long served a purpose: they reduce cognitive uncertainty.
They’re especially valuable for:
- People learning a new process,
- Teams in compliance-heavy environments that need auditability and transparency, and
- Anyone who finds comfort in seeing the “big picture” before acting.
Visuals act as anchors — a way to feel grounded when we’re still building trust in the system.
Why Visuals Might Be Holding Us Back
For more experienced users, those same visuals can become friction points. When you already understand the process, you don’t need to see it — you just want to do the work.
In an agentic system, the AI can:
- Tell you what step you’re in
- Explain what’s next
- And take action if you say, “Go ahead”
In that model, the workflow doesn’t have to be visualized, it’s conversational, contextual, and adaptive. The user isn’t navigating a flowchart anymore; they’re collaborating with an intelligent assistant that knows the path forward.
The Future of Workflows
The future of workflows is less about portals and diagrams — and more about trusting the system to keep us oriented without constant visual reassurance.
Visuals will still exist, but not as permanent fixtures. They’ll surface only when needed for training, auditing, or explaining. In other words, they’ll move from the front stage to the backstage of user experience.
What Do You Think?
As AI takes over more of the “process remembering” for us, do humans still need to see the workflow to feel in control?
What’s your take:
- Keep Visuals Front and Center – We still need visible workflows to stay oriented.
- Hybrid Model – Visuals for novices; agentic experiences for experts.
- Agentic-First, Visual-on-Demand – AI drives the interaction; visuals appear when needed.
- Fully Conversational Future – No diagrams, no portals, just natural, contextual AI.
- Depends on Trust – We’ll drop visuals only once we fully trust AI context.