Dimension 2: Agent Authority¶
Synchronized from the canonical website on 2026-09-06.
“What does the AI get to decide on its own? What emails can it reply to? What transactions can it approve? This cannot be static.”
← Complexity · Velocity · Three-Body Problem
Trust link → RIST™ task trust. See Leadership Delta D5, Change Agility P3.
STANDARDS — ENACTED GOVERNANCE¶
Dynamic Autonomy Calibration¶
Agent autonomy calibrated to model reliability — recalibrated as reliability changes (Floridi's oversight calibration). Model improves → dial turns up. New hallucination domain → dial turns down. Calibration is continuous, not annual.
Consequence-Based Autonomy Tiering¶
Low stakes (drafts, brainstorming): full autonomy, spot-check. Medium (customer-facing, analytical): agent acts, human reviews before delivery. High (financial, legal, reputational): human-in-the-loop mandatory. Tier determined by consequence, not capability. Critical dependency: if underlying data is garbage, autonomy dials down regardless of model quality — authority is a data question before a technology question.
Agent Chain Governance¶
The authority question: not just “what can this agent do?” but “what can it authorize other agents to do?” Autonomous scope expansion without human decision is the failure mode. Every agent chain needs: scope boundary, escalation trigger, human checkpoint at defined intervals.
MEASURES — THREE-LAYER ASSESSMENT¶
Self-Report¶
“Do you know what your AI agents are authorized to do autonomously? Has that scope changed in the last 90 days?” “They do whatever they were set up to do” = ungoverned autonomy.
Evidence Layer¶
Agent autonomy map: scope per agent + last review date. Autonomy tier distribution. Scope change frequency. Agent chain depth: max chain length without human checkpoint. Orphaned agent count.
Behavioral Observation¶
When a new model release changes capability, does the organization recalibrate agent autonomy — or does the same scope persist? If agent authority hasn't changed in six months, it's not calibrated — it's frozen.