2026 has been a banner year for AI and has pushed LLM capabilities across a new operational threshold that makes it practical for agents to execute structured workflows through explicit orchestration frameworks such as Claude Code, with task-specific guidance encoded in lightweight markdown artifacts such as skill files. In a biostatistical and clinical data context, this can facilitate tasks such as authoring statistical documentation and programming code, which in turn produce analysis datasets and outputs. In practice, however, building such workflows reliably raises substantial concerns around accuracy, evaluation, domain knowledge, GxP validation, data privacy, and human accountability. This presentation shares practical experience and reflections from building agentic workflows, organized in three parts: early exploration, observations after diving in, and considerations for those preparing to do the same. Examples will be presented to illustrate the ideas.
Mia Chen
CIMS Global
Hands Dirty First: Practical Notes from Before, During, and After Building Agentic Workflows
2026 has been a banner year for AI and has pushed LLM capabilities across a new operational threshold that makes it practical for agents to execute structured workflows through explicit orchestration frameworks such as Claude Code, with task-specific guidance encoded in lightweight markdown artifacts such as skill files. In a biostatistical and clinical data context, this can facilitate tasks such as authoring statistical documentation and programming code, which in turn produce analysis datasets and outputs. In practice, however, building such workflows reliably raises substantial concerns around accuracy, evaluation, domain knowledge, GxP validation, data privacy, and human accountability. This presentation shares practical experience and reflections from building agentic workflows, organized in three parts early exploration, observations after diving in, and considerations for those preparing to do the same. Examples will be presented to illustrate the ideas.