From Drag-and-Drop to Agentic: What Changed

I’m still an n8n guy. I love it.

For years, I’ve built automations using visual workflow tools. Drag a node here, connect it there, configure the API call, test, deploy. It works. I’m good at it. I can look at a business process and immediately see it as a flowchart of connected nodes.

But since discovering agentic workflows, something shifted. I now build about 90% of my automations in Claude Code. Here’s what I learned.

Both Tools Can Do It

Let me be clear about something: n8n has AI agents. I use them regularly. Claude, OpenRouter, OpenAI. They’re all there. The capability exists.

So when I say my approach shifted, I’m not saying one tool can do AI and the other can’t. That would be nonsense.

The shift is in how I think about problems.

From Flowcharts to Intent

When I moved from Singapore to Thailand three years ago, I wanted to build things my way. No more corporate constraints. No more asking permission. Just me, my laptop, and the freedom to create.

Visual workflow builders felt like that freedom at first. And in many ways, they still deliver it.

But I noticed something: with Claude Code, I stopped thinking in flowcharts. Instead, I started writing intent.

Instead of: “If email contains ‘urgent’ AND sender is in VIP list AND timestamp is business hours, THEN route to priority queue”

I write: “Read this email. Understand what the client actually needs. Consider their history with us. Route it appropriately and explain your reasoning.”

Both approaches work. But the second one is how I actually think when I’m doing the task myself.

Letting Go of “The Automation Guy”

I’d spent years mastering visual tools. They were my identity. “The automation guy who builds flowcharts.”

But tools change. The landscape shifts. Holding onto a specific approach just because it’s familiar doesn’t make sense.

So I stopped asking “how do I build this in n8n?” and started asking “what’s the best tool for this job?”

For simple, predictable automations with clear inputs and outputs, n8n is often faster. Need to move data from A to B with some transformations? A visual tool gets you there quicker.

For tasks requiring judgment, context, and dynamic decision-making, I find myself reaching for Claude Code. Not because n8n can’t do AI. It can. But because the workflow feels more natural for those types of problems.

Why This Matters If You’re Building Automations

This is why I believe AI won’t replace humans. But it will replace humans who don’t use AI. The ones still building conditional branches for every edge case when a well-prompted AI handles them all at once.

If you’re still in the visual workflow world, don’t abandon it. Those skills transfer. Understanding data flows, API integrations, and process logic is foundational.

But start experimenting with agentic approaches for the problems that require understanding. The ones where you find yourself saying “a human would just know what to do here.”

I spent years getting good at drag-and-drop automation. I don’t regret it. That foundation helps me understand what I’m building now.

These days it’s about 90% agentic, 10% visual. The ratio might shift again as both tools evolve. That’s fine. Right now, this is what works.