Exception Path Inventory

Exception Path Inventory is the practice of pricing and scoping a workflow automation by the branches that fall outside the happy path, not by the volume of the main trigger. A workflow that fires 4,000 times a month and fails cleanly is cheaper to own than one that fires 400 times and routes 60 of those into a human judgment call with no documented owner. For agencies, this reframes the retainer conversation: the client's process inventory supplies the exception count, and each undocumented branch is an unpriced support obligation. Persefoni's 12-agent council on Workato placed human approval gates at critical decision stages rather than reviewing every action, which is the same discipline applied to exceptions. Before quoting a build, count the branches, name who resolves each one, and confirm the client accepts that ownership after launch.