A credit team's AI agent competency matrix rates analysts and credit managers on eight skills needed to rely on an agent's spreads, covenant checks and draft credit memos, from figure provenance to challenging the agent's recommendation. Its last column links each person's ratings to the lending authority they hold, so authority never runs ahead of competence. Example below.
What does a credit team need to be good at with an agent?
The agent is reliable at arithmetic. It spreads financial statements, calculates ratios and runs covenant tests at depth 1, and drafts a credit memo and recommendation at depth 2. Lending decisions stay with people holding delegated authority. The risk is not that the agent miscalculates; it is that an analyst accepts a well-presented memo built on the borrower's own forecast, or misses a covenant trending towards breach because the draft says "covenants met".
So the skills in this matrix are mostly about challenge. A training matrix records them; an authority matrix grants the right to lend. This template puts both in view so they can be checked against each other.
How do you fill it in?
- Rate each person on each skill from 0 (not yet) to 3 (relied on without review).
- Base every 3 on evidence: a practicum log, a sample of memos reviewed by a senior, or an assessment.
- Record credentials and expiry.
- In the final column, record the person's delegated authority. Then check the rule: nobody should hold authority above a band unless they are at 3 on skills P1, P3 and P4.
The competency matrix template
Skills
| Code | Skill | What level 3 looks like |
|---|---|---|
| P1 | Figure provenance | Classes every key figure as sealed, signed, declared or external, and says so in the memo |
| P2 | Spread and ratio checks | Spots extraction errors and misclassified items in the agent's spread |
| P3 | Covenant monitoring | Reads trends, not just pass or fail; flags near-breaches |
| P4 | Challenging the draft memo | Disagrees with the agent's recommendation when the evidence supports it, with reasons |
| P5 | Credit policy and authority | Knows the bands and refers anything outside them |
| P6 | Reasons for decisions | Writes specific, accurate reasons for declines and conditions |
| P7 | Reading verdicts | Explains why the agent held or refused a step, from the workspace |
| P8 | Agent certificate events | Knows the agent's certificate lapses after 90 days and a run that clears no depth drops it to depth 1 the same day |
Who holds what
| Person | Role | P1 | P2 | P3 | P4 | P5 | P6 | P7 | P8 | Credential | Expires | Delegated authority |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A worked example
Take a sample asset finance company's credit team of five. Values are illustrative.
| Person | Role | P1 | P2 | P3 | P4 | P5 | P6 | P7 | P8 | Credential | Expires | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R. Grey | Head of credit | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | Operator certificate | 31 May | Up to 1,000,000 |
| T. Amos | Credit manager | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | Operator certificate | 30 Nov | Up to 500,000 |
| W. Zhou | Senior analyst | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | Operator certificate | 31 Aug | Up to 150,000 |
| F. Klein | Analyst | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | None | Up to 50,000 | |
| O. Vance | Analyst (new) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Foundations badge | No expiry | None |
The rule in step 4 catches two lines. T. Amos holds authority up to 500,000 with P3 at 2: covenant trends are the most common thing missed in renewals, and this is the person approving the largest ones. W. Zhou's P4 is at 2, meaning W. Zhou tends to accept the agent's recommendation; at 150,000 that is a real exposure. F. Klein holds authority without a 3 on P1, P3 or P4, which breaks the rule outright.
The team's response: F. Klein's authority is suspended until a supervised practicum is complete; T. Amos's renewals above 250,000 get a second reader for a quarter; W. Zhou completes a fortnight where every memo must record at least one point of challenge to the agent's draft. Rota planning follows the same logic as in credit control; see the reviewer rota for the credit control team and its sister competency matrix for credit control. Technical teams supporting the credit agents keep their own version; compare the matrix for an IT team.
Where the Academy fits
Pryme Intelligence Academy's Certified Pryme Operator is a reasonable evidence standard for level 3 on P1, P4 and P7: a written exam of 40 questions in 60 minutes with a pass mark of 32 of 40, then a two-week practicum on real review decisions. Module tests are set in the learner's own industry and role. A lender can make each authority band depend on a current certificate. See AI agent skills by role.
Questions people ask
Why link competence to authority in the same table?
Because they drift apart. Authority is granted once and rarely revisited; competence changes with every new agent, product and person. Seeing both side by side forces the question.
Should the head of credit be rated?
Yes, by the chief risk officer or equivalent. A matrix that exempts its most senior holder of authority invites the same exemption further down.
Does the matrix cover consumer lending?
It does, with P6 carrying more weight: consumer declines need specific reasons, and credit scoring of individuals is a high-risk use under the EU AI Act.