# What is workflow data?

> What is workflow data? In AI data deals it is the trail of a task across tools, request to deliverable. Fortune calls the agent version a trajectory.

By Matt Burns, Vaultfish. Canonical: https://vaultfish.com/answers/what-is-workflow-data  
Published: 2026-09-17  
Updated: 2026-10-13

## The short answer

Workflow data is the record of how work moved across tools, from request to deliverable. micro1's CFO used a marketing budget request as the example, and David Revland of micro1 used a Slack request with the report in Google Sheets. The terms overlap, and no standard glossary exists yet.

The phrase has no formal definition, so I'm following how buyers use it.

## What does workflow data contain?

[micro1](/buyers/micro1)'s CFO said in an undated recorded forum talk that what labs want is the chain from communication to deliverable: the request, the tools used, the output and what came after.

In the CFO's budget example, the value was the path from request to analysis to approval, and the names and vendors inside it mattered less (self-reported).

## Is it the same as a trajectory?

Close, but the words come from different places. [Fortune](https://fortune.com/2026/09/14/micro1-tries-to-beat-googles-bid-to-buy-bankrupt-spirit-airlines-data-for-12-5-million-highlighting-value-of-data-to-ai-companies/) says micro1 would rebuild links such as an IT ticket tied to a Teams discussion, a code change and an operational result, to test whether agents reach correct outcomes. [Epoch AI](https://epoch.ai/gradient-updates/state-of-rl-envs) defines a task as a prompt plus a grader and describes "gold trajectories" as human-verified examples of completing a task.

Workflow data is the human trail in the records. A trajectory is the step record an agent produces or learns from. The [RL environment page](/answers/what-is-an-rl-environment) shows where each is used.

## Is it the same as the workflows track?

No. The [workflows track](/answers/micro1-workflows-track) is a micro1 program in which employees grade an AI agent on their real tasks and micro1 receives the grade plus the agent's trajectory. Workflow data is the kind of record the term names, wherever it sits.

## How is it different from operational data?

Operational data is the wider label for records a company produces while working. Workflow data is the part that keeps the links between them. See [what operational data is](/answers/what-is-operational-data).

## What does it mean if you hold it?

The links that make workflow data valuable can also point back to people. See the [re-identification page](/answers/re-identification-risk-emails). Rights to the records come first, and the [rights check](/rights-check) lists the facts counsel will ask for.

Talk to a privacy or commercial lawyer in your state before you sign.

micro1 may pay us a referral fee if a company we introduce goes ahead with it. [How we are paid](https://vaultfish.com/disclosure)

Figure: steps A request -> Work across tools -> Deliverable and approval. micro1's CFO described the chain with a budget request: the request, the analysis and back-and-forth across tools, then the approval.

[Apply to micro1's data partnership (paid link)](https://req.micro1.ai/post/74520e8b-4673-4da5-b855-53609aaf6710?referralCode=f82e519e-5d64-4e0e-9574-760c84371cf2&utm_source=referral&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=data_referral) · [micro1's own data-partnerships page](https://www.micro1.ai/data-partnerships)

_Paid link. [How we are paid](https://vaultfish.com/disclosure)_

_Vaultfish helps you run the process. We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. If you need counsel who knows this area, we can point you to one._

## Sources

- [Fortune](https://fortune.com/2026/09/14/micro1-tries-to-beat-googles-bid-to-buy-bankrupt-spirit-airlines-data-for-12-5-million-highlighting-value-of-data-to-ai-companies/)
- [Epoch AI](https://epoch.ai/gradient-updates/state-of-rl-envs)