AI Workshop Series: When to Use Skills vs. Custom Agents in The Grove

About

The Grove, UCR's new secure AI platform, can automate processes and streamline workflows to save hours of effort, but only if the right tools are selected and configured. As you begin to explore features in The Grove, one question you may ask yourself is "What is a Skill and when would I use it instead of an Agent?" This session clarifies the difference between a "Skill" (a quick, reusable shortcut you add to your main chat) and a custom "Agent" (a dedicated, standalone assistant persona you train on specific data to act as a specialized teammate). Webinar attendees can expect:

Hands-On Exercises:

Determine which of your common tasks are best solved with a quick, reusable chat shortcut (Skill) and which need a dedicated, specialized assistant (Agent).

Practice using a pre-made Skill in your standard chat, and compare that with interacting with a custom-built Agent.

Learning Outcomes:

Understand when to use a Skill versus an Agent.

Audit departmental workflows to correctly assign the optimal AI automation strategy.

Transition uniform, high-frequency manual tasks to self-executing background operations.

The Grove, UCR's new secure campus AI platform, officially launched on October 15. To explore it, visit grove.ucr.edu. Find training materials at goto.ucr.edu/grove-training.