n8n Meetup Ottawa: Build an AI Support Agent That Knows When to Escalate

​Most AI support agents fail in one of two ways: they answer things they shouldn't, or they punt everything to a human. In this hands-on workshop you'll build one that gets the balance right. It answers routine questions on its own, asks for clarification when it needs to, and hands the conversation to a person when the stakes call for it.

​We'll open with a short talk from Zara Palevani on her "Act, Ask or Escalate" framework, then build the agent together in n8n, step by step. You'll leave with a working agent you can adapt for your own business or work.

​No coding background needed. If you've never opened n8n before, you'll be fine.

​Agenda

​6:30 PM: Registration and networking
6:40 PM: Welcome and what we're building tonight
6:50 PM: Guest talk: Act, Ask or Escalate. Zara Palevani walks through real scenarios and a simple framework for deciding when an AI agent should act, ask, or hand off to a human (20 min)
7:20 PM: Hands-on build: an AI support agent in n8n with an escalation path to a human
8:20 PM: Q&A, show what you built
8:30 PM: Networking and refreshments

​9:00 PM: Close

​What to bring

​Your laptop, charged. A free n8n account set up beforehand if you can ([signup link]).