Orchestration
Definition
Orchestration is the coordination layer that decides which agent, model or service handles which step, in what order, with which data, and what happens on failure. It is what turns individual agents into a dependable operational system.
It handles retries, timeouts, parallel steps, state and idempotency — the unglamorous mechanics that determine whether automation survives a normal working week.
It is also where cost is controlled: routing simple steps to cheap models and reserving expensive reasoning for genuinely hard cases.
In practice
- State, retries, timeouts and idempotent execution
- Model routing by task difficulty controls cost
- Single place to observe and debug the whole chain
Related terms
- AI agentAn AI agent is a program that pursues a goal on its own: it decides which steps to take, calls tools or APIs to take them, checks the result and repeats until the goal is reached or it hands over. Unlike a chatbot it acts, rather than only answering.
- Workflow automationWorkflow automation routes a task through its defined steps, owners and conditions automatically: who gets it, what must be checked, what happens on approval or rejection, and what is recorded. It removes coordination work rather than performing the work itself.
- API integrationAn API integration connects two systems through their programming interfaces so data moves automatically and reliably. It is the stable alternative to manual re-entry, CSV exchange and interface robots, and it is the backbone of every serious automation.