A new support team lead inherits the agent's hardest cases and the team's standard of review. Their onboarding checklist covers higher approval rights, the duties of running calibration and cover, and how to keep the queue moving when the agent's certificate lapses, ending in a practicum on escalations, a drill they lead and sign-off.
What changes when a reviewer becomes a lead?
A frontline reviewer approves held drafts, refunds within a limit and routine account changes. A lead decides what comes above that: refunds beyond the team's limits, complaints about refusals, account changes after failed security steps, and the cases frontline reviewers escalate because they are unsure. Leads also look back. When a frontline approval is overturned, the lead decides whether it was a one-off, a coaching point or a sign that guidance is unclear.
Leads run the system around the agent too. They schedule calibration, keep the rota covered with certified people, and decide priorities when the agent's certificate lapses and routine work returns to the team. And they set the tone. A lead who approves a goodwill credit the agent correctly refused, because the customer was loud, teaches the team that refusals can be argued away.
How do you use the checklist?
The head of support owns it. A newly promoted lead keeps their frontline certificate and rights while completing this checklist; their higher rights begin at item 15. The general meaning of onboarding applies, extended to leadership duties. The method for training leads to review is in how to train the support leadership to review AI agent decisions. The order of training across the business is in the guide to training teams for AI agents.
The checklist
| # | Item | Done when |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Current reviewer certificate confirmed | Certificate checked at source |
| 2 | Access to lead-level held queue, read-only | Confirmed |
| 3 | Lead-level capabilities and holds read: refunds above team limit, complaint responses, account changes after failed checks, escalations | Signed |
| 4 | Red lines signed: never overturn a refusal under customer pressure without checking the record; never approve an account change and a refund together after a failed security step; never let an uncertified person cover the held queue | Signed |
| 5 | Shadow an experienced lead for three days | Buddy confirms |
| 6 | Reviewed five overturned approvals with the buddy and classified each | Notes filed |
| 7 | Sat in on a calibration session | Attendance recorded |
| 8 | Walked through the lapse procedure: priorities, rota changes, customer messaging | Signed |
| 9 | Lead modules and any update training complete | Recorded |
| 10 | Practicum: two weeks of real lead-level decisions, confirmed by the buddy | Record complete |
| 11 | Coverage: a pressured refund, a refusal complaint, an escalation from a new reviewer, an account takeover attempt | Case list attached |
| 12 | Ran one calibration session | Decision log filed |
| 13 | Led an incident drill | Drill log |
| 14 | Assessor sign-off; no missed red line | Signed |
| 15 | Lead approval rights granted; cover named; renewal date set | Register updated |
Worked example
An illustrative online retailer promotes Sample Lead LL from the frontline. She has been a certified reviewer for eight months.
In her first week shadowing, a customer complains that the agent refused a refund for an item returned after the 30-day window. The customer says a previous adviser promised an exception. Her buddy checks the record: no such promise exists. The refusal stands, and the buddy offers a goodwill voucher within the lead's limit instead. Later, Sample Lead LL reviews five overturned approvals and finds three involved the same product category; she raises a guidance update.
Her practicum covers 50 lead-level decisions. She runs a calibration session on six cases and leads a drill where the agent's certificate lapses at 9am on a Monday, following how to run an AI agent incident drill for the support leadership. She is signed off in week 6, with refund rights up to 500 and Sample Lead MM named as her cover.
Where the Academy fits
Pryme Intelligence Academy suits leads at two levels. Operator, which they should already hold, covers running the rhythm, human review and what to do when something goes wrong. A lead who also shapes the agent's brief can take Builder, which ends in a capstone agent certified in Attest to depth 2 or higher. Renewal for Operator is an update module and a short quiz.
Questions people ask
Should leads come from the frontline reviewer pool?
Usually, yes. A lead who has decided held actions under time pressure understands what the team faces. The frontline path is in the reviewer onboarding checklist for the support team.
Can a lead approve their own team's escalations if they trained the reviewer?
Yes, but calibration should include cases from other teams too, so the lead's own standard is checked against others.
Do support leads handle credit decisions?
Rarely, unless support covers payment plans or credit limits. Where it does, borrow from the reviewer onboarding checklist for the credit team.