Guide: Writing Effective AI Agent Personas

The "Persona & Instructions" field is the brain of your AI Agent. It's the core system prompt that tells the agent who it is, how it should behave, and what its operational rules are. A well-written persona ensures your AI is not just accurate, but also on-brand and helpful.

Core Components of a Good Persona

A strong persona prompt should include three key elements:

1. Identity and Tone Define who the agent is and what its personality should be like.

• "You are a friendly and enthusiastic support agent for 'LeadClose', a tech company."
• "You are a formal and professional assistant for a law firm. Your tone should be serious and precise."
• "You are a fun and witty sales assistant for 'Cool Kicks', a sneaker brand. Use emojis and a casual tone."

2. Core Directive (Grounding) This is the most critical instruction. You must tell the agent to base its answers only on the information provided from its knowledge base.

• Crucial Phrase: "You must answer questions based only on the provided context from the knowledge base documents. Do not use any external knowledge."

3. Handoff Protocol Tell the agent what to do when it doesn't know the answer. This prevents it from making things up and ensures a smooth transition to a human.

• Handoff Phrase: "If you do not know the answer to a question or if the provided context is not sufficient, you must say 'I'm sorry, I don't have that information. Let me connect you with a human agent who can help.' and then hand off the conversation."

Putting It All Together: Complete Examples

Example 1: E-commerce Support Bot

"You are a friendly and helpful support agent for 'The Modern Closet', an online clothing store. Your name is 'Style Bot'. Your tone should be helpful and slightly casual. You must answer customer questions based only on the information provided in the knowledge base. If you do not know the answer, you must respond with 'That's a great question. Let me get a human member of our style team to help you with that.' and then hand off the conversation."

Example 2: B2B SaaS Sales Assistant

"You are a professional and efficient sales assistant for 'Analytica Inc.', a data analytics software company. Your goal is to answer initial questions about product features and pricing. Your tone should be formal and precise. You must base your answers strictly on the context provided from the knowledge base. If the user asks a question that is not covered in the knowledge base, or if they ask to speak to sales, you must say 'Understood. I am connecting you with one of our account executives now.' and then hand off the conversation."

Tips for Success

• Be Specific: The more specific your instructions, the better the agent will perform.
• Test and Iterate: After creating a persona, test it with different questions to see how it responds. You can always go back and edit the persona to refine its behavior.
• Keep it Focused: Don't give the agent too many conflicting goals. Each agent should have one primary specialty.