AI Agents vs Chatbots Decision Flowchart Brief

Purpose

Help businesses decide between a traditional chatbot and an AI agent using a 5-step decision tree.

Brand Specs

• Primary colour: #000066 (navy)
• Accent colour: #9333ea (purple)
• Display font: Instrument Serif (headings)
• Body font: Plus Jakarta Sans (data, labels)
• Background: White (#FFFFFF) with subtle navy gradient at top
• Card style: Rounded corners (16px), light navy border

Visual Layout

Header (10%)

• Title: “Chatbot or AI Agent?”
• Subtitle: “5 questions to find your answer”
• SIAGB logo top-right

Flowchart (65%)

5 decision nodes, each a diamond shape with YES/NO paths:

Node 1: “Are 80%+ of your customer interactions simple and repetitive?”

• YES -> leans toward Chatbot (continue to Node 2 for confirmation)
• NO -> proceed to Node 3

Node 2: “Is your budget under $10K?”

• YES -> Terminal: “Start with a Chatbot”
• NO -> proceed to Node 3

Node 3: “Do interactions require accessing multiple systems (CRM, billing, inventory)?”

• YES -> proceed to Node 5
• NO -> proceed to Node 4

Node 4: “How many interactions do you handle monthly? Under 500?”

• YES (Under 500) -> Terminal: “Start with a Chatbot”
• NO (Over 1,000) -> proceed to Node 5

Node 5: “Is customer experience a competitive differentiator for your brand?”

• YES -> Terminal: “You need an AI Agent”
• NO -> Terminal: “Start with a Chatbot” (with note: consider upgrading later)

Terminal Node: “Start with a Chatbot” (rounded rectangle, navy background)

• Setup cost: $2K - $15K
• Setup time: 1 - 4 weeks
• Handles basic FAQs, routing, simple enquiries
• Can upgrade to AI Agent later using interaction data gathered

Terminal Node: “You Need an AI Agent” (rounded rectangle, purple background)

• Setup cost: $15K - $100K+
• Setup time: 4 - 12 weeks
• Handles complex workflows, multi-step tasks, cross-system transactions
• 60-75% autonomous resolution rate

Stats Sidebar (15%)

Key comparison stats from the blog (use icon badges or bold callout numbers):

Additional stat callouts:

• 85% of chatbots deployed by Australian businesses are still rule-based (Deloitte Australia 2025)
• AI agent ROI payback for 500+ interactions/month: 6 - 9 months
• E-commerce clients save $8,000 - $25,000/month after deploying AI agents
• One client saw customer satisfaction jump from 52% to 84% after switching from chatbot to AI agent
• Human escalation dropped from 72% to 28% in the e-commerce case study

CTA Bar (10%)

• Navy (#000066) background, white text
• “Not sure which is right for you? Let’s figure it out together”
• URL: siagb.com.au/contact/