Not all automation needs an agent with a brief. Brainis also has a signal layer - detectors that watch for conditions - and rules and playbooks that respond to them.
Signals
Detectors run continuously against your data and raise signals when conditions occur: a deal stalled, a task overdue, a candidate stuck in stage, an invoice unpaid past terms, a sprint slipping, an employee overloaded, a renewal approaching, a cash gap forecast within 30 days. Signals appear in Command Center, Signals with recommended next moves. See Signals for the full catalog.
From signal to action
Each signal type can be wired to a response: notify an owner, create a task, or trigger a playbook. The wiring respects autonomy - a response can be "propose for approval" rather than "do it".
Playbooks
A playbook is a named, repeatable response: the steps you run when an invoice goes 30 days overdue, when a high-value account lands, when an incident opens. Playbooks live in Command Center, Playbooks; agents and managers can invoke them, and Cortex can draft one from a description of your current process.
Automations
Module-level automations handle the small mechanical rules that need no AI at all - "when a task enters Done, notify the reporter", "when a deal closes, create the onboarding project". Find them in each module's settings under Automations.
Tip: The division of labor: automations for mechanical rules, signals and playbooks for condition-response operations, agents for work that needs judgment. Use the cheapest tier that does the job.