Managed AI in practice / FIELD NOTES
Managed AI agents: define execution rights and human approval
Specify task boundaries, system access, write permissions, approval versions and execution records before an AI agent handles business work.
Which agent actions should require a person to approve them?
Separate reading, organizing, recommending and executing, then assign responsibility for each step. Microsoft documents combining AI and human stages in agent flows. The following original task design is tool independent and does not promise a particular product capability.
Define one bounded task
For a fictional “prepare customer follow-up drafts” task, specify trigger, source records, permitted fields, output location and completion criteria. “Manage all sales” is too broad to verify. Name a person to receive out-of-scope requests so a new requirement can pause the task instead of expanding it silently.
- Specify the task and trigger
- List inputs and completion criteria
- Assign an escalation owner
Separate read access from write access
Create columns for system, record scope, read, modify, send and approver. In this example, the agent may read selected customer records and prepare drafts; sending, changing a price or deleting data requires separate authorization. Verify that the actual connection supports these limits rather than assuming prompt wording configures permissions.
- Inspect actual connection permissions
- Separate drafts from external sends
- Record approver and backup owner
Bind approval to the exact action
Show the recipient, proposed message, affected records and current version in the approval request. If a person approved draft V02 and the agent produces V03, obtain a fresh decision. Define waiting states for changed inputs, timeouts and lost connections so an unanswered request cannot silently proceed.
- Show targets and proposed changes
- Reapprove changed content
- Define timeout and interruption states
Rehearse exceptions and hand over operations
Test approval, rejection, no response, duplicate triggers and tool failure. Verify logs contain request ID, input version, decision and execution receipt. If execution is uncertain, inspect the target system before retrying to avoid duplicate records. Hand over the stop control, named owner and review schedule before broadening the task.
- Test approval, refusal and timeout
- Check retries and duplicate execution
- Hand over stop controls, logs and ownership
Before you hand over the work
- A prompt is not a substitute for access controls.
- Approve a specific action and content version.
- Logs and a stop control belong in the operating handoff.
Demonstration projects and examples illustrate working methods. Follow the receiving party’s specifications and the scope agreed for your project.