AI Governance Buyer Checklist: Identity, Permissions, Policy, Approval and Evidence

Decision context

The right design depends on the kind of decision being made and the operating environment around it. Use both perspectives before selecting tools or expanding permissions.

A checklist is a verification aid, not evidence that a control works. For each item, distinguish documented intent, manual practice, technical enforcement and tested effectiveness. A checked box without an owner, runtime proof or recent test should remain an open risk in the purchase or pilot decision.

For AI governance, policy language is only the starting point. Buyers need evidence that identity, isolation, permission, approval, budget and audit controls are enforced on the real execution path. Test denied and ambiguous cases, because successful demonstrations rarely reveal whether the system fails safely.

Scope and boundaries

Use these boundaries before deciding how much work an agent may own:

• Controls must apply in production execution paths.
• Administrative access and policy changes are attributable.
• Evidence is available for both successful and blocked actions.

Evaluation criteria

A useful evaluation separates outcome quality from the controls that make the result safe to use:

1. 01

   Identity, SSO readiness and service-account attribution.

   Ask what evidence supports this criterion, who owns it and how often it is reviewed.
2. 02

   Tenant isolation and least-privilege permissions.

   Define an acceptance threshold before the pilot so a persuasive example cannot move the goalposts.
3. 03

   Versioned policy and deny-by-default behavior.

   Include exceptions and rejected outputs; they show the real review and recovery cost.
4. 04

   Payload-bound approval, expiry and separation of duties.

   Record the decision and rationale so a later scope change can be evaluated against the same baseline.
5. 05

   Budget enforcement, audit trails, retention and incident response.

   Ask what evidence supports this criterion, who owns it and how often it is reviewed.

Implementation sequence

Move from a narrow, observable starting point to broader responsibility only when evidence supports it:

1. 1

   Request architecture and control demonstrations.Retain the baseline, owner and approved scope.

2. 2

   Test a changed payload after approval.Keep source references and the policy version used.

3. 3

   Test missing policy, provider timeout and revoked access.Record validation results, exceptions and corrections.

4. 4

   Inspect a complete trace and data-retention controls.Bind any human decision to the exact proposed action.

5. 5

   Record gaps, owners and contractual commitments before purchase.Verify the final state and attach provider evidence.

Failure modes to test

Test the negative path deliberately. These patterns usually reveal a weak operating model:

• Accepting screenshots instead of a live control test.
• Assuming an audit log proves prevention.
• Leaving pilot security exceptions outside the purchase decision.