A coordinator sends every query through web search, document analysis, synthesis, and report generation. Simple factual questions such as "When did the regulation take effect?" take as long and cost as much as broad comparative research. What is the most effective design change?

Answer: A — Have the coordinator analyze each query's requirements and invoke only the subagents that query needs

Part of the coordinator's role is deciding which subagents to invoke based on query complexity, rather than always routing through the full pipeline. A cache (b) only helps exact repeats, merging agents (c) gives up specialization for complex queries, and time budgets (d) truncate work arbitrarily instead of matching effort to need.