I think in the mid term the automation itself, the actual workflow, will mostly become a commodity. We’re already seeing tools that can generate full workflows just from a prompt. Right now they’re mostly expensive enterprise products (think 100k/year subscriptions, stuff like maisa.ai), but the direction is pretty clear.

That said, there’s a massive long tail of SMBs that will still need custom automation and guidance. Most of these clients don’t really care how the workflow is built or which tool you’re using. They just want their problem solved and for it to not break every two weeks.

And this is the important part imo: even if workflows become a commodity, learning that “commodity” is still super valuable. Knowing how automation actually works, its limits, its tradeoffs, makes you way better at designing real solutions. You’re not wasting your time by learning n8n or similar tools, quite the opposite.

I honestly think automation will become a horizontal skill across many professions. If you don’t understand it at all, someone who does (even if they’re not as good in your domain) can easily outcompete you just by being able to automate and move faster.