Home>AI Courses>Personal Productivity in the Age of AI>Lesson 17

Personal Productivity in the Age of AI

Module 5 — Agents, Chains, and the Limits of Delegation

Lesson 17: Sub-Agents, Worktrees, and the Routing Decision

Last updated: 2026-05-12

When one assistant becomes several, the question is no longer how to prompt well but how to assign the work. Three patterns — a single agent, a sub-agent, a team of agents — cover most cases, and choosing the wrong one is more expensive than choosing the wrong words.

Lesson 17: Sub-Agents, Worktrees, and the Routing Decision

Blackboard

One job, one agent; one task, one tree

13 min
Pause and Think

Of the pieces of work you currently run through an assistant, how many could in principle be running in parallel right now, and what is stopping that from happening?

Practice Question

Question

Does not count for certificate
Choose one answer, use the hint if needed, then check your answer.
Use the hint before checking if you need a nudge.