Exploratory: Bridge Content Stretch Projects
These are exploratory stretch projects — not required to complete Module 3. They bridge the platform AI evaluation from Module 2 to the agent building work starting in Module 7.
Project 1: Platform AI vs. Custom Agent Decision Matrix
Estimated time: 25 minutes Extends: Module 3 reading (what custom agents add) Prerequisites: Modules 1-3 completed
What You Will Build
A decision matrix for your top 5 operational tasks — for each task, evaluate whether it is better served by platform AI (use what AWS already provides) or a custom agent (build with Hermes). This is the foundation for your Module 4 impact assessment.
Challenge
The decision is not binary, and it changes over time. A task that platform AI handles today may need a custom agent as your requirements grow. The challenge is being honest about what platform AI cannot do — versus what it just does differently than you would prefer.
Steps
-
List your top 5 operational tasks that involve monitoring, diagnosis, or response (examples: EC2 health monitoring, RDS performance investigation, cost anomaly triage, K8s pod failure response, deployment validation)
-
For each task, complete a decision row:
| Task | Platform AI Available? | What It Can Do | What It Cannot Do | Decision | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC2 health monitoring | Yes (CloudWatch) | Anomaly detection, alarms | Cross-reference runbooks, structured diagnosis | Custom agent | Needs context my environment |
| ... |
- Decision criteria:
- Platform AI: Task is well-scoped, platform AI handles it accurately, no cross-domain reasoning needed
- Custom Agent: Task requires domain context (your runbooks, your thresholds), cross-domain reasoning, or structured output in a format the platform doesn't provide
- Both: Use platform AI as the trigger, custom agent for the analysis (e.g., CloudWatch alarm fires, custom agent investigates)
Expected Deliverable
Completed decision matrix with rationale for each decision, plus a summary: how many of your top 5 tasks benefit from custom agents?
Project 2: First Agent Design Sketch
Estimated time: 20 minutes Extends: Module 3 demo (Hermes first-run walkthrough) Prerequisites: Module 3 completed, familiarity with one of the three Module 10 agent tracks
What You Will Build
A one-page design document for a custom agent that addresses a gap you identified in your Module 2 coverage audit or your Module 3 decision matrix. This is a design sketch — no code, no configuration — just the conceptual design for what the agent would do.
Challenge
Keeping scope narrow. It is tempting to design an agent that does everything. A well-scoped first agent does one thing very well and has clear boundaries for what it does not do. The challenge is resisting scope creep in the design phase.
Steps
Write a one-page design doc using this structure:
# [Agent Name]
## Problem
[One paragraph: what is the manual operational task this agent addresses?
What is the current friction?]
## Agent Scope
- **Does:** [List 3-5 specific actions the agent takes]
- **Does not do:** [List 2-3 explicit out-of-scope items]
## Inputs
[What data does the agent need to do its job?]
## Outputs
[What does the agent produce? Format? Destination?]
## Success Criteria
[How do you know the agent is working well? What would make it worth deploying?]
## Open Questions
[What do you need to figure out before building this?]
Expected Deliverable
A completed one-page design doc. Bring it to Module 4 (Impact Assessment) — it becomes your capstone candidate.
Which Project Should You Do?
| Your Interest | Recommended Project |
|---|---|
| Systematic evaluation framework | Project 1 (decision matrix) |
| Starting your capstone design early | Project 2 (agent design sketch) |
| Under 20 minutes | Project 2 — direct preparation for the capstone |
Both projects directly feed into Module 4's impact assessment. Project 2 is especially valuable if you want to arrive at Module 4 with a strong capstone candidate already sketched.