Climbing the AI Maturity Curve: From Automation to Agentic Systems

Inside VertoDigital’s 9-Month Journey and Open Playbook

On October 23rd, at Campus X, VertoDigital opened its doors — and its internal roadmap — to a packed room of founders, product leads, marketers, and curious operators. The session, titled Climbing the AI Maturity Curve: From Automation to Agentic Systems, wasn’t just a talk. It was a breakdown of how one team moved from playing with AI automations to building real agentic systems — and the human, technical, and cultural hurdles along the way.

“We do not know what to automate and where to use AI.”

That was the starting point, according to Simeon Penev, Data & Analytics Consultant at VertoDigital. Back in early 2024, the team began to manually review their workflows, identify bottlenecks, and ask the uncomfortable questions: Which of these are just busywork? Where are we losing time and compounding inefficiencies?

That’s how their journey up the AI Maturity Curve began:

Step 1: From Curiosity to Useful Chaos

The first part of the talk focused on surfacing repetitive, time-sensitive processes.

“Finding the right tools and ways for automation,” Simeon explained, “was a trial-and-error effort.” They experimented widely — with ChatGPT, Gemini, n8n, BigQuery Agents, and collaborative tools like Team-GPT — to move beyond simple automations and into self-running workflows.

But it wasn’t all tech.

“You can optimize or automate many processes,” he reminded the room, “but if the team doesn’t adopt the new way of working, it’s irrelevant.”

Step 2: Internal Adoption Is the Real Challenge

By early 2025, the team had built a solid toolkit — but adoption lagged. The blockers weren’t technical. They were human.

So they rebuilt around simplicity:

→ Hands-on workshops

→ Internal champions

→ Clear explanations and forms

→ Feedback loops from real users

“If it’s more than two clicks away,” Simeon said, “it’s too complicated.”

Step 3: Invisible AI, Visible Value

By Q2 2025, the team had shifted focus outward. The question became: how do we make our internal automation meaningful to clients?

They showcased real use cases:

→ Monthly GA4 summaries

→ BigQuery Agents for keyword research

→ Fully automated LinkedIn campaigns

One of their biggest lessons? “Internal innovation means nothing until it becomes external value.”

Step 4: Building Agentic Systems

Toward the end of the talk, VertoDigital previewed what’s next: fully agentic systems that don’t just automate steps, but take initiative.

From integrated agents that optimize entire campaigns, to scalable internal knowledge tools like their revamped AI Audiences and AI Ad Copy modules — the direction is clear:

→ Less friction

→ More autonomy

→ Systems that learn and adapt on their own

But even here, the principle remains the same:

“Adoption works when it’s simple to use, clearly valuable, and accessible to everyone.”

The Framework: A&A as a Strategy

The talk closed with a simple 3-part framework for others climbing the curve:

1. Identify Spot high-impact, repetitive processes

2. Implement Start simple and use collaborative platforms

3. Integrate Ensure team-wide adoption with real examples and ongoing support

“Think of Automation & Autonomy as an ongoing process, not a destination.”

For those at Campus X — and those watching from LinkedIn — VertoTalks #16 offered more than slides. It offered a roadmap grounded in reality, in iteration, in tools that sometimes break, and people who slowly learn to trust them.

Because the curve to agentic systems isn’t just technical. It’s cultural. And it’s happening now.

Written by  Visibilio.ai