Declare an outcome
Give a goal with optional details, a target number, a unit and a deadline, or start from the Raise a funding round template.
Outcome Workflows: state the goal, review the plan, approve each step
State the result you want, such as "Raise $500k by December", and Nautis's AI breaks it into an ordered plan of tasks, document requests, metric targets, agent drafts and checkpoints. Edit the plan, approve and start it, and the work lands on a Task Board. Steps that touch the outside world always pause for your approval.
- Typical plan5 to 9 steps
- Step types7
- Outcomes a month20 by default
Outcome Workflows
Planning & Strategy
Active
12
This month
+24%
Status
On track
What is Outcome Workflows?
An AI goal planner takes a goal you state in plain words and breaks it into ordered steps you can act on. Nautis Outcome Workflows proposes a plan of usually 5 to 9 steps, lets you edit it, then runs it: creating a Task Board, tasks, document requests and metric targets, with agent drafts and anything external paused for your approval.
Most goals stall between the sentence and the first task. "Raise $500k by December" is clear, but it hides a dozen pieces of work: a target list, a deck refresh, a data room, a number to watch, and a few points where a founder has to decide. Outcome Workflows does that first breakdown and puts the result where the team already works, on a Task Board.
Click New outcome, write the goal, and optionally add details, a target (500000), a unit (USD) and a deadline. It's saved as a Draft, and nothing runs yet. Generate plan proposes a numbered timeline built from seven step types: Task Board (usually step 1), Task, Document, Metric, Agent, Notify and Checkpoint. Each step shows whether it will pause for you, and Re-plan gives you a fresh version if the first one misses.
Read the plan the way a manager would. Edit plan lets you rename steps, change their type, switch between Runs automatically and Needs my approval, add a success metric, reorder or delete. When it's right, click Approve & start. From then on the plan is locked, steps run in order, and the outcome moves through Running and Awaiting approval to Completed. A completed step means the work is set up on the board. It doesn't mean the goal is met.
Built for
- Founders turning a big goal into concrete work
- Teams getting ready to raise a round
- Operators who want every goal tied to the tasks behind it
Capabilities
What you can do with Outcome Workflows
Everything ships out of the box. No setup, no plugins, no extra tools.
AI-generated plan
Generate plan proposes an ordered plan, usually 5 to 9 steps, from your goal and workspace context. Re-plan if it misses.
Seven step types
Task Board, Task, Document, Metric, Agent, Notify and Checkpoint steps, each set to Runs automatically or Needs my approval.
Approval gates
Anything that would send something outside your workspace waits for you, on the outcome or in the Chief of Staff's Approval Center.
Linked tasks
Link any Task Board task to a goal from the task's Goal column and see it under Linked tasks on the outcome.
Use cases
How startups use Outcome Workflows
Raising a round on a deadline
Start from the Raise a funding round template. Expect document steps that become tasks, a metric step that sets a target from your amount and deadline, and agent steps that draft work. The investor conversations themselves still live in the Fundraising CRM.
A goal with no plan at all
An outcome doesn't need a plan. Keep "Grow to 5,000 followers" as a Draft and link tasks to it from any Task Board's Goal column. The outcome's page lists them under Linked tasks, with status, board and due date, so the goal becomes a way to group work you already have.
Approving from wherever you already are
When steps wait on you, the outcome shows an amber banner and the same requests appear in the Approval Center under the Chief of Staff's Approvals tab. Approve or skip from either place; they're the same requests.
Changing course mid-run
If a running workflow no longer fits, click Abandon. Steps stop generating, and the Task Board and tasks it already created are kept, so you can declare a new outcome without losing the work done so far.
Quick start
From zero to using Outcome Workflows
- 1
Declare an outcome
Click New outcome, write the goal, and add a target and deadline if you have them. It starts as a Draft.
- 2
Generate or edit the plan
Click Generate plan, then Edit plan to change titles, step types, approval settings and order.
- 3
Approve & start
Steps run in order. The plan locks once the workflow starts.
- 4
Approve, skip and finish
Approve or skip waiting steps. When every step is done or skipped, the outcome is Completed and the work lives on its Task Board.
What the AI goal planner does, and what it leaves to you
The AI reads your goal and your workspace context and proposes the plan. During a run, Agent steps queue drafting work, and any step that would send something outside your workspace is marked Needs approval. Checkpoint steps always pause for a person to review before the workflow continues.
Only plan generation and agent drafting use AI credits. Creating outcomes, running steps and approving them don't. If credits run out while a plan is generating, the outcome safely returns to Draft; if they run out during an agent step, that step is skipped and the rest carry on. Goals can also be created by the Chief of Staff or a connected AI app, and those start as Drafts.
Outcome Workflows vs a chatbot plan vs a project template
Asking a chatbot for a plan is quick, and for a personal goal it may be enough. The gap shows when the plan has to become work that a team can see and approve.
| Need | Ask a chatbot for a plan | Project template | Nautis Outcome Workflows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan from your goal | Yes, as text | No, generic steps | Ordered steps from your goal and workspace |
| Work created where the team works | Copy and paste | Yes, if the template fits | Task Board, tasks, document tasks and metric targets |
| Approval before anything external | Up to you | Not applicable | Built in, plus Checkpoint steps |
| Status per step | No | Task status only | Pending, Running, Awaiting approval, Done, Skipped, Failed |
| Edit before running | Re-prompt | Yes | Edit plan, then locked at start |
| Learns from the result | No | No | Completed outcomes feed the Learning Engine |
Plans and limits
- Your plan caps how many outcomes you can create per calendar month, 20 by default. Hitting it shows "Monthly outcome workflow limit reached."
- AI plan generation needs the AI planning feature enabled for your organization and uses AI credits: 1,000 a month on Launch, 2,000 on Voyage and 2,600 on Fleet. See pricing.
What Outcome Workflows doesn't do
- It sets work up; it doesn't do the work. Closing the round, writing the document and hiring the person are still yours, tracked on the Task Board.
- Plans lock once a workflow starts. To change direction, you abandon it and declare a new outcome.
- A failed step shows its error and the workflow keeps going, so check for failed steps rather than assuming the plan ran clean.
- The plan is an AI first draft. For goals with legal or money consequences, add a Checkpoint step wherever a person should look before work continues; our guide to human-in-the-loop AI agents explains why that matters.
- It isn't an OKR system. There's no scoring or quarterly cadence built in, so pick a method yourself if you want one.
Outcome Workflows questions
What is an AI goal planner?+
It's a tool that turns a goal written in plain words into an ordered plan of steps. A good one creates the work somewhere your team can see it and lets you approve risky steps. In Nautis, that's Outcome Workflows, and the work lands on a Task Board.
What goals work best?+
Specific ones with a number and a date, like "Raise $500k by December" or "Reach $20k MRR". Vague goals produce vague plans. Use Details for context such as the instrument, the type of investor or the channel you're betting on.
Can I build the plan without AI?+
Yes. Create the outcome, then open Edit plan and use Add step to write it yourself. You need at least one titled step before Approve & start works.
Who can create and run outcome workflows?+
Anyone with read permission for the module can view outcomes. Create permission is needed to declare one, and update permission to generate or edit plans, start them, approve steps or abandon a workflow.
What happens to the Task Board when the outcome is done?+
It stays. The outcome is marked Completed when every step is done or skipped, and the board keeps its tasks so you can finish the actual work. Abandoning or deleting an outcome never deletes boards it created.
Does the AI do the work for me?+
It sets the work up. Steps create a Task Board, tasks, document-request tasks and metric targets, and agent steps can draft content. Doing the underlying work, like closing the round, is still yours, tracked on the Task Board.
Will it send anything without asking me?+
No. Any step that reaches outside your workspace is approval-gated, and the workflow pauses until you click Approve. Checkpoints always pause for review as well.
Can I change the plan while it's running?+
No. Plans lock at start. If a running workflow no longer fits, click Abandon (created work is kept) and declare a fresh outcome, or approve and skip your way through the remaining steps.
What happens if a step fails?+
The step is marked Failed with the error shown under it, and the remaining steps still run. Failed steps don't count toward progress.
Where do I approve waiting steps?+
Inline on the outcome's detail page with the Approve and Skip buttons, or from the Approvals tab in Chief of Staff. They're the same requests.
What's the difference between Abandon and Delete?+
Abandon stops a live workflow but keeps everything it created. Delete removes an outcome that hasn't started, along with its plan. Task Boards it already created survive either way.
Does it use AI credits?+
Only plan generation and agent drafting steps do. Creating outcomes, running steps and approving them don't. If credits run out while a plan generates, the outcome returns to Draft.
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Hire your Chief of Staff today.
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