The handoff is part of the product.
A result is not complete because an agent produced it. It is complete when the next person can understand it, trust the source, and continue without reconstructing the entire process.
Define the output shape, the required evidence, the owner, and the next state. These details feel operational because they are. They are also the difference between a useful system and an impressive isolated capability.
If the handoff is vague, the automation only moves confusion faster.
Define failure before success.
Ask what the system should do when context is missing, a tool times out, or confidence falls below the useful threshold. A safe failure state should preserve the work and make the next action explicit.
Without that contract, edge cases become private detective work. With it, operators can see where the workflow paused and resolve the issue without guessing what already happened.
Recovery is a first-class feature.
Give operators the ability to retry, correct, reassign, and explain. Record enough history to understand the chain without turning the interface into a wall of logs.
The boring handoffs create confidence. Once people know the system will fail clearly and recover cleanly, they are willing to let it handle more meaningful work.