Use this RACI template to show, for every recurring task in running an AI agent, who does the work, who answers for the outcome, who must be asked first and who must be told. One person is accountable per row. The rows cover the agent's whole life: brief, certification, depth, held actions, refusals, lapses, incidents and people's own certificates.
Why do agent operations need a separate RACI?
Because the work does not map onto an existing team. Writing an agent's brief looks like process design, certifying it looks like testing, approving its held actions looks like operations, and reconstructing a decision from the record looks like audit. If nobody draws the lines, two things happen: tasks fall between teams, and the person who widened the agent's depth is also the person who approves what it then does.
A RACI fixes both. It also gives a supervisor or auditor a one-page answer to "who owns this agent?" If the four letters are new to you, read what is a RACI matrix? first. The version focused on supervision rather than day-to-day running is the RACI matrix for AI agent oversight.
How do you fill it in?
Start with the roles, then the tasks, then the letters.
- List the roles, not the people. A typical set: agent owner, builder, team lead, reviewer, operations manager, risk and compliance, IT administrator, internal audit.
- List the tasks as verbs. "Approve a depth change", not "depth".
- Give each row exactly one A. If two roles feel accountable, split the task.
- Check separation. The role that is R for changing the agent's bounds should not be R for approving the actions those bounds allow.
- Add the competence column. For each R and A, write the certificate or training the person must hold. Accountability without competence is a name on a page.
- Name the people separately. Keep a short list mapping each role to named individuals and their deputies.
The operations manager often ends up as the A for the daily rhythm. What that role covers is set out in what does an AI operations manager do?.
The template
| Task | Agent owner | Builder | Team lead | Reviewer | Ops manager | Risk and compliance | IT admin | Internal audit | Competence required for R and A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Write or change the agent's brief | |||||||||
| Run certification in Attest | |||||||||
| Approve a depth change | |||||||||
| Set or change customer limits | |||||||||
| Decide held actions | |||||||||
| Respond to refusals that customers query | |||||||||
| Act on a lapsed or failed certificate | |||||||||
| Lead an incident | |||||||||
| Manage connections and access | |||||||||
| Keep people's certificates current | |||||||||
| Reconstruct a decision from the record |
A worked example
A hypothetical mid-sized payments business runs an exceptions agent that investigates failed payments and drafts repairs. The completed rows look like this.
| Task | Agent owner | Builder | Team lead | Reviewer | Ops manager | Risk and compliance | IT admin | Internal audit | Competence required for R and A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Write or change the agent's brief | A | R | C | C | I | C | I | I | Builder certificate for R |
| Run certification in Attest | I | R | I | I | I | C | I | I | Builder certificate |
| Approve a depth change | A | C | C | I | R | C | I | I | Architect or builder for A |
| Set or change customer limits | A | C | C | I | R | C | I | I | Operator for R |
| Decide held actions | I | I | A | R | I | I | I | I | Operator for R and A |
| Respond to refusals that customers query | I | C | A | R | I | I | I | I | Operator |
| Act on a lapsed or failed certificate | I | R | C | I | A | I | I | I | Operator for A |
| Lead an incident | I | C | R | C | A | C | R | I | Operator for A, drill attended |
| Manage connections and access | C | C | I | I | I | I | R | I | Not applicable |
| Keep people's certificates current | I | I | R | I | A | I | I | I | Not applicable |
| Reconstruct a decision from the record | I | C | C | I | I | R | I | A | Operator-level literacy |
Two choices are worth noticing. The builder is R for the brief but only C for depth changes, so the person shaping the agent does not also grant it more authority. And when a certificate lapses, or a run clears no depth, the agent drops to depth 1 the same day; the operations manager is accountable for moving that work back to people, while the builder is responsible for the recertification run.
The roles in this table are not shrinking because the agent exists; they are moving to the points where it stops, a theme taken up in will AI agents replace payments operations staff?. For a sector view of the operations manager's training, see AI agent training for operations managers in logistics in the UAE, and for every role's skills, AI agent skills by role.
Questions people ask
Can one person hold several roles in a small team?
Yes, but never both sides of a separation. In a team of five, the team lead may also be the reviewer, but the builder should not approve the held actions their own brief produces.
How often should the RACI be reviewed?
Whenever an agent gains a capability or depth, when people change roles, and at least once a year. An out-of-date RACI is worse than none, because it gives false comfort.
Where should the RACI live?
Next to the agent's runbook and certificate, where the team actually looks. A copy in a policy library nobody opens does not change behaviour.