Method tool

AI Workflow Control Matrix

A practical worksheet for deciding what AI may read, draft, recommend, execute, never touch, and learn from before it enters a real workflow.

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Matrix

Map controls and feedback before AI gets access.

The table is intentionally concrete: each workflow step needs allowed actions, prohibited actions, approval points, evidence, feedback, and an owner.

Workflow step	AI may read	AI may draft	AI may recommend	AI may execute	AI may never touch	Required approval	Evidence to log	Owner
Intake	Request, source record, ticket, document, or telemetry summary.	Internal summary and missing-context questions.	Likely owner, urgency, and next review step.	Create a draft note or reviewer task only when approved.	Close, submit, send, approve, or alter authoritative records.	Workflow owner or reviewer.	Source ID, timestamp, reviewer decision, and output version.	Workflow owner
Evidence assembly	Approved systems, policies, records, prior decisions, and logs.	Evidence packet, response option, or review memo with source links.	Gaps, unsupported claims, and source conflicts.	Route packet to a review queue if the route is reversible.	Invent evidence, cite stale records as current, or suppress exceptions.	Evidence owner or subject-matter reviewer.	Source list, retrieval log, gap log, and reviewer edits.	Evidence owner
Decision support	Current status, constraints, prior outcomes, and private eval metrics.	Decision brief and options with caveats.	Expand, tune, hold, or stop based on the private eval record.	No direct execution unless explicitly scoped, reversible, and logged.	Approve regulated, financial, safety, quality, or customer-facing decisions.	Authorized operations, quality, legal, or program owner.	Decision record, approval log, private eval snapshot, and known limits.	Decision owner

Use the Control Matrix before a workflow gets real access.

Good fit when

The workflow has repeated intake, review, routing, drafting, or evidence assembly.

A wrong AI action could create customer, quality, brand, compliance, financial, or physical risk.

Humans, systems of record, policies, or deterministic controls need to remain authoritative.

The team can log source evidence, approvals, overrides, feedback, and outcome results.

Not a fit when

The workflow is still too vague to name steps or owners.

The team wants unrestricted AI action on day one.

There is no approval path or source system to inspect.

No one can define what evidence would prove the workflow improved.

FAQ

Common buyer questions.

What is the AI Workflow Control Matrix for?

It helps a team decide what AI may read, draft, recommend, execute, and never touch before it enters a real workflow.

Who should fill out the matrix?

The workflow owner, system owner, reviewer or approval owner, and implementation lead should fill it out together so operating authority and technical permissions match.

What happens after the matrix is drafted?

The matrix should be translated into tool permissions, approval paths, control-layer checks, telemetry, tests, private evals, and feedback capture for the first implementation.