My first Copilot agent had zero quality gates. Ran it. Generated a 3,000-word article. Beautifully formatted. Perfect markdown.
Then I read it. Generic AI content. Could've been ChatGPT. No specific numbers, no personal stories, no expertise signals. Would take 4+ hours to edit into something publishable.
Cost: $15 in API calls + 4 hours editing = $180 in wasted time.
Lesson learned: Automation without validation = fast garbage.
Added 3 gates: • Input validation: Verify request is clear before starting • Process validation: Quality score ≥40/50 or auto-refine • Output validation: Human reviews final artifact
After gates? 85% first-pass acceptable (vs 30% before). 15% needs minor tweaks, not rewrites.
Gates aren't about not trusting AI. They're about not trusting ANY automation without verification. Same reason you don't push to prod without tests.
Full validation framework: Custom Copilot Agents