Building Smarter AI Agents with Elements.cloud

AI-powered agents are becoming essential tools for businesses looking to automate workflows, enhance customer interactions, and optimize business processes. However, building effective AI agents requires more than technology—it demands a structured step approach to design, development, and governance.

Enter Elements.cloud, the platform of choice for implementing Salesforce Agentforce. By leveraging Elements.cloud, teams can collaboratively design, build, and test AI agents with speed, precision, and governance.

Why a Process-Led Approach Matters

A well-defined process-led implementation ensures:

• Clear identification of agent use cases
• Stakeholder alignment on scope and objectives
• Logical agent design with structured workflows
• Automated requirement capture and user story generation
• Automated generation of agent instructions
• Governance and compliance tracking
• Better management of technical debt with metadata type control

For organizations with complex processes or strict compliance needs, this methodology brings transparency, efficiency, and risk reduction to AI agent development.

Step-by-Step Guide to Building AI Agents

Step 1: Document Agent Use Cases and Jobs to Be Done (JTBD)

The Agent Interaction Map (AIM) is a structured way to visualize agent capabilities and interactions. It consists of three levels:

1. Level 1: A high-level list of agent skills and use cases.
2. Level 2: A breakdown of specific Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) for each skill or use case. 
3. Level 3: A detailed process flow outlining the instructions and actions for each JTBD.

Note: each JBTD, equates to a Topic in Agentforce.

Steps to Create an AIM:

1. Start with a blank AIM template – You can copy one from the Elements Public Templates workspace.
2. Define Level 1: Skills/Use Cases – Identify the primary skills the agent will perform and list them as separate activities in the process diagram.
3. Define Level 2: JTBD for Each Skill – Each skill should have a set of tasks the agent must complete (Jobs to be done). 
4. Define Level 3: Detailed Process Flows – These diagrams outline each step the agent follows, including interactions, logic, and actions.

Best Practices:

• Use clear labels for each level to maintain clarity.
• Ensure that topics remain self-contained to avoid confusion.
• Watch this video

Step 2: Designing the JTBD Diagram

Structuring the Agent’s Logic

The Level 3 JTBD diagram is a detailed representation of the agent’s process. It can be created using:

• Existing diagrams (modifying templates)
• AI-generated diagrams from org metadata
• Hand-drawn sketches converted by AI
• Live workshops with stakeholders

Best Practices for Drawing Diagrams:

• Follow an IF/THEN structure – Lines represent inputs, and activities are instructions. Format them as: “IF {input text} THEN do {activity text}.”
• Start activity text with a specific verb – Avoid vague terms like Process or Manage. Instead, use precise verbs like Fetch, Retrieve, or Create.
• Use consistent AND/OR logic – If two lines enter a box with different text, the agent assumes OR. To enforce AND, start the second line with “AND.”
• Ensure clear numbering of activity boxes – Instructions are tied to activity numbers. Use Elements. cloud’s auto-renumbering feature.
• Differentiate roles with colors. Use distinct colors for activities performed by Agents, Users, or Actions to ensure readability and compliance.
• Attach user stories to Action activity boxes – Each Action can be linked to Salesforce metadata such as Apex, Flow, or Prompt Builder.
• Clearly define resources – Each activity box should specify if it’s executed by an Agent, User, or Action.

Step 3: Creating the Agent in Salesforce Agent Builder

Building Agentforce Topics and Actions

With the JTBD diagram in place:

1. Create the Agent in Salesforce Agent Builder.
2. Define the Topic using the JTBD diagram’s Classification and Scope.
3. Create Actions that map to Salesforce metadata (Apex, Flow, Prompt Templates).
4. Generate instructions directly from the JTBD diagram and paste them into Agent Builder.

Generating and Managing Instructions

• In Edit Mode, use the right panel of the JTBD Diagram to generate the topic instructions automatically.
• The tool will interpret the diagram and generate a single text block containing all instructions and guardrails.
• Copy and paste these instructions into a single instruction field in Agent Builder

Maintaining the JTBD Diagram Change Log

• Each time the JTBD diagram is edited, a snapshot is taken.
• When generating instructions, the diagram automatically saves a snapshot with a copy of the instructions.
• You can access and filter these snapshots in the right panel of the diagram for reference.
• Watch this tutorial on redefining JTBD

Step 4: Evaluating the Topic

Testing for Accuracy and Consistency

Systematic evaluation is crucial to ensure the agent behaves as intended. The process involves:

• Generating test scenarios based on different process paths.
• Creating test utterances to simulate user interactions.
• Running the agent through “Happy Path” tests to verify ideal behavior.
• Exploring fault paths to identify weaknesses.

If failures occur:

• Pinpoint the issue using the JTBD diagram.
• Refine the process and regenerate the instructions.
• Regenerate and retest to ensure accuracy.
• Watch this video on testing your agent

Step 5: Deploying the Agent

Launching Agentforce in Production

Once validated, the agent is deployed via Salesforce DevOps tools. Deployment includes:

• Agentforce metadata (Agents, Topics, Actions)
• Any supporting metadata (Apex, Flow, Prompt Templates, Data Cloud configurations)
• Final activation in the production environment

Governance for Compliance and Scalability

Using Elements.cloud, teams can manage version control, publish AIM diagrams, and ensure audit-ready governance for AI agent deployments. Treating AIM documentation as operational content strengthens compliance and knowledge retention.

Step 6: Post-Implementation Best Practices

To maintain long-term success:

• Constantly update diagrams before modifying Agentforce configurations
• Regularly refine agent design based on performance analytics
• Expand AIM documentation to accommodate new skills and topics
• Sync Salesforce metadata for impact analysis and dependency tracking

Final Thoughts

Implementing Agentforce with Elements.cloud offers a structured, repeatable approach to AI agent design, ensuring business excellence and driving measurable results. By focusing on clear process maps and agent functions, teams can create autonomous agents capable of handling complex tasks while improving agent accuracy and agent reasoning.

The seamless deployment of agents enhances the user experience, whether integrating human agents or autonomous agents. With governance of agents, businesses can ensure consistent performance and deliver actionable outcomes. This approach allows for continuous improvement, reducing risk and enabling better agent query handling, all while supporting customer service agents in providing exceptional service. By following this process, organizations can improve efficiency and confidently evolve their AI capabilities.

Ready to build smarter AI agents? Get started with Elements.cloud today and streamline your Agentforce implementation!