Handover
Autonomy dial
An autonomy dial is a control that sets how far an agent may act without asking, on a four-rung scale of observe and suggest, plan and propose, act with confirmation, and act autonomously, set separately for each type of task.
Control sits with the person
When to use it
Any product where tasks differ in risk. It also helps during onboarding, when a person can start at a low setting and raise it as their confidence grows.
What it prevents
Wholesale abandonment of a feature after one bad experience, which is what happens when the only alternative to full autonomy is switching the agent off.
Autonomyfour task types
Draft a replyAct with confirmation
Send an invoicePlan and propose
Tidy the backlogAct autonomously
Delete a recordObserve and suggest
One dial per task type. Not one switch for the product.
Where it is used
- Microsoft Magentic-UI: the person sets how often approval is required
- Enterprise policy engines: approval scoped by class of action
Sources
Related patterns: Action guard · Budget envelope
Worked through as a deck: The six stages of agent handover · Five minutes before the agent starts