Automate a handoff you can already explain. "When a brief is ready, create a queued request" has a clear trigger and result. "Keep everything in sync" leaves unanswered which system wins when records disagree.
Decide what may change
Which system owns the source fact? What precise event triggers the action? Can that event arrive twice or out of order? Who sees a failure before a client notices? Start with one direction of data movement rather than editing the same status in several systems.
Test the exceptions
- Use fictional records to run the intended handoff and confirm the destination account is correct.
- Repeat the event and check that it does not create duplicate work or messages.
- Remove required information and verify the action stops with a visible exception.
- Disable the connection, record the missed event and practise the manual recovery without repeating completed actions.
The delivery guide supplies request-state boundaries. The evaluation worksheet records ownership and recovery checks. Give integrations only the access they need, and document who can revoke it.
Keep human decisions human
Do not buy an automation layer to compensate for missing process ownership. A short manual checklist is safer while rules change frequently. Keep scope exceptions, disputed approvals and ambiguous billing changes with an accountable person. Use the stack guide to decide whether an integration is necessary at all; removing a duplicate record may eliminate the handoff instead.