Light on. Clock ticking. Agents deployed. 

Our first Wrike AI Agents Build-Off Competition has come to a nail-biting finish!

During the Showcase Showdown, the second part of our three-part deminar series that features all things Wrike AI agents, we didn’t just talk about AI — we watched it compete. 

The live session brought five contestant customers head to head, each proving how fast they could eliminate the busywork, cut costs, and give time back to their teams. 

And let me tell you — the results weren’t incremental. 

They were “Wait… that used to take HOW long?!” levels of impressive. 

Let’s get into the contenders. 

Round 1: Sprint cleanup in 60 seconds 

Andres Serratos smiling during a contest.

Contestant: Andres Serratos, Associate Project Manager, AppFolio 

Agent submission: Automation Team Sprint 

Every Friday: 15-20 minutes of sprint cleanup. 

Or… not anymore. 

Andres unleashed an agent that: 

  • Moves straggler tasks 
  • Achieves the sprint
  • Spins up the next one 

New runtime? One minute. Flat. 

🎯 Scorecard:

  • 20 minutes → 1 minute
  • 17+ hours saved annually (per team) 

That’s an extra coffee break you just earned, every week. 

Round 2: Idea intake, but make it instant 

Contestant Nathan Jones in a competitive setting.

Contestant: Nathan Jones, Sr. Director, Emerging Digital Experiences and Innovation at College of American Pathologists (CAP)

 Idea intake used to take 3.5 hours of manual effort.

Now? 15 minutes.

Nathan’s agent doesn’t just collect ideas, it:

  • Summarizes them
  • Scores them
  • Routes them 

Automatically. 

🎯 Scorecard:

  • 3.5 hours → 15 minutes 
  • 50+ hours saved every month 

Translation: Less “review theatre,” more actual innovation happening

Round 3: Creative ops without the chaos 

Contestant Ali Moses.

Contestant: Ali Moses, Process Improvement Manager, Varsity Yearbook 

3,000+ tasks. 20 creatives. Endless reassignments. 

Ali said absolutely not. 

Her Task Master 2 agent:

  • Routes reproofs and reworks
  • Adjusts timelines dynamically 
  • Fixes gaps before they become problems 

🎯 Scorecard:

  • 100+ hours saved annually 

That’s 100+ hours back where they belong: in the work, not managing the work.  

Round 4: Deadlines you don’t miss anymore

Contestant Sherrie Besecker.

Contestant: Sherrie Besecker, Systems Solutions Manager, Syneos Health 

Agent submission: Task of the Week 

In high-stakes industries, missed deadlines = real cost.

Sherrie’s agent:

  • Flags critical submission timelines 
  • Alerts teams instantly to changes
  • Keeps everything aligned 

🎯 Scorecard:

  • Fewer missed deadlines
  • Less rework
  • Lower operational risk 

Because sometimes the biggest win is the problem you never have to fix

Round 5: Compliance without the bottleneck 

Contestant Szilvia Beszo.

Contestant: Szilvia Becző, PMO Analyst, Affidea

Agent submission: Compliance Ninja 

Compliance workflows: slow, manual, painful. 

Until they’re not. 

Szilvia’s Compliance Ninja agent: 

  • Fills in missing data
  • Classifies project value
  • Routes approvals automatically 

🎯 Scorecard:

  • Faster approvals
  • Fewer manual reviews
  • Smoother cross-team execution 

This is how you turn compliance from a blocker into a background process. 

And the winners are…

🏆 Best Overall Agent: Andres Serratos |  Automation Team Sprint

⏱️ Biggest Time Saver: Sherrie Besecker | Task of the Week

🎨 Most Creative Use Case: Szilvia Becző | Compliance Ninja

The runners-up? Your time and budget

Across every build, the pattern is undeniable: 

  • Minutes shaved → hours saved
  • Hours saved → costs reduced
  • Costs reduced → teams freed up to do actual, meaningful work 

This isn’t AI for the sake of AI.  This is AI that earns its keep immediately.  Because if this showdown proved anything, it’s this: AI agents are here, and they’re ready to automate your Friday afternoon.