This post is part of my Building Successful AI Agents series. In earlier posts, I summarized the first four steps from Chapter 8 of Agentic AI: Harnessing AI Agents to Reinvent Business, Work and Life by Pascal Bornet and colleagues. The framework in that chapter is designed for building AI agents from a business perspective. In this post, I’ll compare it to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) — a widely recognized guide for business analysis that applies to all kinds of projects and solutions.

Why Compare Them?

Bornet’s approach is focused on AI agents. BABOK is the general case for identifying needs, defining requirements, and guiding a solution from concept to delivery. Looking at them side-by-side can reveal how an AI-specific process maps to the broader discipline of business analysis.

Similarities

• Opportunity Identification: Bornet’s Step 1 (“Finding the Right Agentic Opportunities”) aligns with BABOK’s Needs Assessment. Both start with discovering where change can bring value.
• Defining the Solution: Bornet’s Step 2 (“Defining the AI Agent’s Role and Capabilities”) parallels BABOK’s Elicitation and Requirements Definition, ensuring clarity on scope and objectives.
• Designing the Approach: Bornet’s Step 3 (“Designing AI Agents for Success”) maps to BABOK’s Design Definition — deciding how the solution will work, its features, and how it integrates into the current state.
• Implementing the Solution: Bornet’s Step 4 (“Implementing Your AI Agents”) corresponds with BABOK’s Solution Evaluation and Change Implementation — putting the solution in place and assessing outcomes.

Differences

• Scope: BABOK covers all kinds of solutions (software, process, policy), while Bornet’s process is tailored to AI agents.
• Level of Detail: BABOK is more granular, explicitly including stakeholder analysis, governance, and traceability. Bornet implies these but does not break them down.
• Methodology: Bornet assumes iterative technology development with pilots and scaling. BABOK is methodology-neutral and can be used with both iterative and waterfall approaches.
• Specialization: Bornet includes AI-specific design principles such as “Build in Human–AI Collaboration” and “Choose the Right Architecture,” which are not part of BABOK’s general framework.

Using Both Together

BABOK provides the robust, general-purpose structure for any kind of solution, ensuring nothing is missed in the analysis and planning stages. Bornet’s AI-specific steps add detail where technology, data, and human–AI interaction need special attention. Combining both can help create AI agents that are not only technically sound but also aligned with business needs and stakeholder expectations.

Side-by-Side Comparison