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Human-in-the-Loop Systems

Approval & Review Workflows

Design robust approval systems that balance automation with human oversight for compliant AI decisions

Why Approval Workflows Matter

Not all agent actions should be executed immediately. Approval workflows provide the governance layer that ensures high-stakes decisions receive appropriate human oversight before execution.

The Core Principle

Risk-based routing: Low-risk actions auto-execute. Medium-risk actions require single approval. High-risk actions need multi-level review. Critical actions go through conditional chains with specialized expertise at each stage.

💡 The goal isn't to slow everything down—it's to automate safely by matching oversight to risk level.

Four Key Benefits

🛡️
Risk Mitigation

Prevents costly mistakes by requiring human sign-off before irreversible or high-impact actions.

📋
Compliance & Audit

Creates audit trails showing who approved what and when—essential for regulated industries.

🎯
Calibrated Autonomy

Agents handle 90% of routine work while humans focus on the 10% that truly needs judgment.

Optimized Speed

By routing smartly, most actions proceed instantly while critical ones get proper review.

Interactive: Risk-Based Approval Routing

Click each action to see how risk level determines approval requirements. Notice how the workflow complexity scales with potential impact:

📧
Send automated email response
Risk: LOWAuto-Execute
💰
Issue $250 refund
Risk: MEDIUMSingle Approval
🗑️
Delete customer account
Risk: HIGHMulti-Approval
📝
Execute large contract amendment
Risk: CRITICALConditional Chain
💡
Key Insight

Approval workflows aren't about adding bureaucracy—they're about strategic friction. Apply it only where the cost of a mistake exceeds the cost of delay.