Leadership
Decision rights, then the graph.
I'd own the seams and the org that has to live with them. Architecture without written decision rights dies in the second quarter.
I own — Control-plane seams
Where orchestration stops, where the gateway starts, how RAG fails closed, which evals can fail a release. I write the invariant. Teams implement inside it.
I own — Irreversible writes
If a tool can publish, pay, push, or mutate a system of record, it goes through the gateway. HITL stays on until a named owner takes the risk in writing.
Teams own — Product wedges inside the invariant
Once the deny-path and eval gate exist, squads ship without me in the review. If every graph still routes through me at day 90, I failed the seat.
Teams own — Model choice on a metered path
Buy vs RAG vs PEFT vs self-host is a receipt, not a brand. I set the decision framework. The team that owns the path picks — and shows the meter.
ARB invariants
What I will not let the org automate.
Governance bolted into the agent graph
The graph gets a back door the first time someone is late. Orchestration and policy stay separate layers.
Rank-then-filter RAG
Demos that skip access-before-ranking look smart and leak. Filter by who the caller is, then score.
Autonomous side effects
Publish, pay, push, deploy — gateway or HITL. Fail-closed in prod. I will not automate the write that embarrasses us on the front page.
Demo-day without an eval owner
If a fixture cannot fail the build, it is a launch, not a platform. Soft multi-tenancy is the same refusal.
First 90 days
Listen, then three written outcomes.
Days 1–14 I map decision rights, where retrieval sits relative to authorization, and the irreversible action the org already fears. IAM owner, noisiest agent path, one skeptic, one business partner.
Outcomes
- One deny-path a stranger can replay (tenant or authZ-before-retrieve) with a negative test in CI
- Gateway / HITL on one irreversible tool that used to be autonomous
- One eval gate that can fail a build — and at least one other team reusing the pattern
Non-goals
- No org-wide multi-agent rewrite in Q1
- No provider swap in the first 60 days unless risk demands it
- No new public product brand from this seat
A skeptic can verify a standard another team reused — not a prettier chatbot, and not me as the permanent approval bottleneck.
Succession
If I leave, the platform still denies the bad write, the eval still fails the build, and a named owner can resume HITL. A Principal who cannot be replaced was a bottleneck, not an architect.
Delivery — Contextual
Employer programs. Not public-repo receipts. Full ledger on /proof.
- Payments (Stripe / GIB) and subscription architecture on Gulf commerce programs
Contextual — employer programs. Annualized figures are not public receipts.
- Supply-chain EDI re-platform off license-heavy SAP / TrueCommerce paths
Contextual — employer programs. Savings records stay with the company.
- Agent automation that cut staffing intensity 10→2 on targeted repeatable flows
Contextual — described in the enterprise case study. Operational records are not public.