Quick Build is the fastest route to getting a Zoho Zia Agent live. It walks you through seven sequential steps on a single page, taking you from initial configuration all the way through to deployment without needing to switch between areas of Agent Studio.
Understanding Agent Types Before You Begin
Before starting Quick Build, it helps to know which type of agent you are creating. The type is determined by two configuration choices: whether to add a knowledge base and whether to add tools. This gives four possible configurations:
| Agent Type |
Description |
| General Assistant | Relies solely on the model's built-in knowledge and your written instructions |
| Knowledge Base Only | Grounds all responses in documents you have uploaded |
| Tools Only | Performs system actions via APIs without referencing documents |
| Knowledge Base + Tools | Combines document-grounded responses with the ability to take actions |
The Seven-Step Quick Build Process
- Open Agent Studio. Navigate to Agent Studio and choose whether to build your agent from scratch or let Zia AI generate an initial configuration based on your requirements.
- Add basic information. Provide a name, a description, and select the AI vendor and model you want to use. Define the agent's role and, most importantly, write detailed instructions. This instructions field has the greatest influence on your agent's behaviour — be precise about what the agent should and should not do.
- Add a knowledge base (optional). If your agent should ground its responses in specific documents, select the pre-uploaded files you want it to reference. This step can be skipped if you are building a general assistant or tools-only agent.
- Add tools (optional). Use the dropdown menus to connect system tools or custom tools that allow your agent to take actions, such as updating records or retrieving data from connected services.
- Set guardrails and create. Default guardrails for fairness, bias, and toxicity are applied automatically. You can add custom guardrails here to override any conflicting instructions and control what the agent will and will not engage with.
- Test your agent. Map parameters and set up any required connections, then test the agent iteratively and refine its instructions or configuration until it behaves correctly.
- Deploy. Choose either connection-based deployment (the standard and recommended first option) or digital employee deployment, which assigns the agent its own identity within a Zoho product. The digital employee option is rolling out in phases and may not yet be available in all accounts.
What Comes After Quick Build
After deployment, you can continue to develop your agent using the broader Zoho Zia Agents platform. This includes monitoring performance through Observability, managing versions, integrating with channels such as ChatKit, Cliq, and WhatsApp, and configuring automated triggers for the agent to respond to events without manual intervention.
Need help? 1 Cloud Consultants can guide you through setting up and optimising Zoho Zia Agents for your organisation.
Book a discovery call with 1 Cloud Consultants.