A well-scoped agent MVP typically takes 3–6 weeks: one workflow, one integration set, clear guardrails, and real-user feedback loops.
Week 1: scope and data access
Define the workflow boundary, permissions, and success metric. Set up retrieval or structured data feeds.
This is the week where most timelines go wrong. If data access takes three weeks of procurement and security reviews, your "3-week build" is actually a 6-week build. Get data access sorted before the clock starts.
Weeks 2–4: build and evals
Implement tools, prompts, eval harness, and monitoring. Ship to pilot users early.
Early user feedback is worth more than extra development time. Ship the imperfect version, watch how people use it, and iterate. The feedback from week 3 pilot users shapes the agent more than the spec from week 1.
Weeks 5–6: hardening
Refine guardrails, add logging, handle edge cases, and prepare for broader rollout.
This phase is where most teams cut corners, and pay for it later. Invest in monitoring and fallback paths now, or debug production incidents at 2am later.
Related reading:
Frequently asked questions
What slows agent builds down?
Unclear workflow ownership, messy data, and missing integrations. Fixing inputs is often 50% of the work.
Should we start with multiple agents?
No. Start with one workflow. Expand once you have reliability and adoption.