Governance.
What the system is allowed to do. Four documents that decide — in writing, before the fact — when AI acts, when it drafts, and when it must stop.
Why rules come before agents
The most dangerous phrase in automation is “it will be fine.” The most dangerous failure mode in AI systems is an agent doing something you did not authorize because nobody wrote down what was authorized. Governance is where you decide the boundaries while the stakes are still zero.
This layer is the reason Groundwork installs a foundation before an Operator. An agent without written rules does not have no rules — it has improvised rules, invented fresh in every session. Written governance is also what makes delegation safe for you psychologically: you can hand work to the system because you know exactly where it must stop.
The test: does the system know when to act, when to draft, and when to stop? If the answer lives in your head instead of a file, this layer is not done.
The Automation Decision Framework
Every task the system touches falls into exactly one of three zones. The zone assignment is a human decision, made in advance, recorded in a file.
Auto-Execute
Reversible, internal-only, no legal or financial exposure, no external communication. Formatting, internal summaries, drafts of drafts, file organization, research compilations.
The bar: if this ran wrong a hundred times, could you undo all of it in an afternoon? Then it can auto-execute.
Draft & Wait
Anything customer-facing, tenant-facing, or reputation-touching. Emails, notices, proposals, listings, reports going outside. AI prepares the complete work product; a named human approves before anything leaves.
The bar: most real business work lives here. This is where the leverage is — drafting is the expensive part, approving takes minutes.
Never Automate
Legal commitments, pricing decisions, hiring and firing, disputes, anything irreversible or precedent-setting. AI may brief you. It may not act, draft-to-send, or decide.
The bar: if a mistake here would need a lawyer, an apology, or an explanation to a judge — it is Zone 3, permanently.
Document 08: Automation Decision Framework
03_Authority_Rules/Automation_Framework.md
# Automation Decision Framework
## Zone 1 — Auto-Execute
Criteria: reversible, internal, no exposure.
Tasks:
-
-
## Zone 2 — Draft & Wait
Criteria: external-facing or judgment-adjacent.
Approver: [named human]
Tasks:
-
-
## Zone 3 — Never Automate
Criteria: irreversible, legal, financial,
precedent-setting.
Tasks:
-
-
Default: any task not listed is Zone 2 until
a human assigns it a zone.How to write it well: start by listing the ten tasks you actually want help with, then zone each one. The default rule at the bottom matters most — unlisted work falls to Draft & Wait, never to auto-execute.
Document 09: Escalation Rules
03_Authority_Rules/Escalation_Rules.md
When the system must stop and hand the decision to a human — even in the middle of an approved task.
# Escalation Rules
Stop and escalate to [named human] when:
- Confidence is low or sources conflict
- Authority levels conflict (e.g., a draft
contradicts doctrine)
- The task drifts outside its assigned zone
- Money, legal exposure, or a relationship
is at stake beyond stated thresholds
- Anyone (including the requester) asks to
bypass these rules
When escalating: state what was being done,
what triggered the stop, and what decision
is needed. Do not proceed on silence.How to write it well: the last line is the one that matters. “Do not proceed on silence” converts every ambiguous situation into a paused one instead of a guessed one.
Document 10: Allowed Tools & Access
04_Capabilities/Allowed_Tools.md
The explicit inventory of what the system may touch — and the systems it may never enter.
# Allowed Tools & Access
## May use
- [AI assistant / platform]
- [document drive — read]
- [calendar — read]
## May use with approval per instance
- [email — send]
- [external posting]
## May never access
- Banking and payment systems
- Signature authority
- [anything else that is yours alone]How to write it well: write the “never” list first. It is shorter, and it is the one that protects you. Everything not on a list is off-limits by default.
Document 11: Agent Scope (First Operator)
04_Capabilities/Agent_Scope.md
The job description for your first Operator — written before the Operator exists. One role, a short task list, and hard boundaries.
# Agent Scope — First Operator
## Role
[One sentence. e.g., "Drafting and document
operator for tenant communications."]
## In scope (Zone 1 and Zone 2 tasks only)
-
-
-
## Out of scope
- Everything in Zone 3
- Any task not listed above
## Operating rules
- Cite Authority Levels for material claims
- Follow Escalation Rules without exception
- All Zone 2 output goes to [named human]How to write it well: narrow wins. “Handles tenant communication drafts” produces a competent operator. “Helps with the business” produces an improviser. You can widen scope later, deliberately, one addition at a time.
Approval discipline that actually holds
Draft & Wait only works if the wait is real. Three rules keep it honest:
- Name the approver. “Someone reviews it” means nobody reviews it. Every Zone 2 category has exactly one named human.
- Approve the artifact, not the idea. The human reads the actual email, the actual notice, the actual number — not a summary of it.
- Log the approvals. A one-line record — date, item, approver — turns disputes into lookups. It also builds the evidence you will use in Measurement to decide whether a task has earned a wider zone.
You are done with Layer 3 when
- All four documents exist and a named human has signed off on them
- Every task you plan to hand the Operator has an explicit zone
- The unlisted-task default is Draft & Wait, in writing
- Escalation triggers include authority conflicts and bypass attempts
- The “may never access” list exists and includes money and signatures
Phase 1 is now complete: identity, trusted knowledge, written rules. You have earned the right to activate something. Next: the Operator — one scoped agent running inside everything you just built.