The hardest design decision in any AI agent system is not what the AI does. It is when the AI stops.
Most AI systems get this wrong in one of two directions. They hold on too long, trying to handle a conversation that needs a human, and end up dumping a frustrated guest on a human halfway through a botched exchange. Or they hand off too quickly, defeating the entire purpose of the AI by making the human re-handle every inquiry from the start.
We built Mia around four handoff triggers. Each one is explicit. Each one is logged.
Emotional weight. Grief, conflict, complaints, anything where the right response is human or nothing at all.
Contractual commitment. Final pricing, signed deposits, deviations from your standard terms — anything where the guest is making a decision that should not be made on autopilot.
Complex pricing or scope. Bespoke events, large group RFPs, anything where the right answer requires judgment from a person with the authority to give it.
Customer request. Any time a guest asks to speak to a person, the request is honored immediately. No deflection, no friction.
When Mia hands off, she delivers a clean briefing — the guest's name, the inquiry, the conversation history, what's needed, when the guest expects a reply. The human walks into the conversation already informed. The guest does not re-explain. The handoff feels seamless.
Handoff is not a failure mode. It is a feature. Designing it well is what separates an AI agent your team trusts from one your team works around.
