AI governance

What should an AI agent be allowed to do?

An AI agent should be allowed to act only where the owner, permissions, boundaries, tools, restricted actions, monitoring, change rules, and shutdown path are clear.

By Christopher Petrino | Published July 15, 2026

Design governance into a delivery pilot

Direct answer

An AI agent should be allowed to act only where the owner, permissions, boundaries, tools, restricted actions, monitoring, change rules, and shutdown path are clear.

Agent discussions often focus on autonomy while leaving ownership, tool access, monitoring, change control, and incident response vague.

Practical framework

Use this as the decision model.

  1. Name the business owner and technical owner.
  2. Define the data, systems, and tools the agent may use.
  3. List permitted actions and restricted actions.
  4. Set escalation and approval rules for uncertain or consequential cases.
  5. Monitor exceptions, failures, drift, and changes in tool access.
  6. Assign incident ownership, change control, and shutdown criteria.

Examples

How the issue shows up.

An agent that drafts internal summaries may have broad read access but no external send permission.

Permission design should reflect what happens if the agent is wrong.

An agent that updates a customer record may require approval or route classes based on consequence.

Governance becomes practical when route classes change with consequence.

Decision criteria

Questions that make the next action clearer.

  • Can the governance record survive a production incident?
  • Would a new operator understand what the agent may do?
  • Are owners able to change, pause, or retire the agent?

Common errors

What to avoid.

  • Using policy language without operational owner names.
  • Expanding tool access without change control.
  • Monitoring only usage volume instead of exceptions and outcomes.

Sources and related content

This article uses first-hand operating judgment.

This framework is based on Christopher Petrino's product, data, AI, and technology operating experience.

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