An agent approver is the named person authorised to release an AI agent's held actions within a defined scope and limit. When an agent drafts something it may not complete alone, such as a payment above the customer's own limit, the action waits for an approver. The approver decides, and the record files the decision under their name.
Why does the approver role matter?
Held actions are where the riskiest work of an agent meets a person. The approver is the control. If the wrong person approves, or someone approves without the authority or skill, the control fails while the record says it worked.
Approver rules also shape how well the agent can be used. Too few approvers and held actions pile up; too many, with loose limits, and approval loses its meaning. Setting the rule well is a design task; the contact centre and collections versions are in how to set an approver rule for the contact centre and for the collections team.
How does it work in practice?
Each approver is defined by:
- scope: which agents and which actions they may approve;
- limit: the maximum value or impact they may release;
- credential: the current certificate they must hold;
- deputies: who covers absence, with the same or lower limits;
- escalation: where items beyond their limit go.
An approver should see the agent's draft, the evidence and its provenance, and which bound held the action. They may approve, edit and approve, or reject. Their limits are usually set out in an authority matrix such as the approver authority matrix for a finance team or for an onboarding team.
What is an example?
A distributor's accounts payable agent drafts supplier payments. Payments under the customer's own limit go through at depth 4 once the agent is certified for them. Larger ones are held. The approver matrix names a finance officer who may approve up to one level, and the finance manager above that. A payment to a newly added supplier is held regardless of amount. The finance officer approves a routine held payment, then passes the new-supplier one to the manager, who checks the supplier record before approving. Each step is filed under a name.
How is an approver different from a reviewer and a second approver?
A reviewer examines an agent's drafts and may approve routine items within their authority, edit them or send them on. An approver holds formal authority over specific held actions, often of higher value or risk. In small teams one person may be both; in larger ones they differ, and the approver often has a higher credential and limit.
A second approver is a further person who must also approve before an action proceeds, usually for actions that cannot be undone. The first approver decides; the second confirms.
Which terms are related?
- Named approver: the same idea stressed for accountability.
- Authority matrix: the table setting approvers' scope and limits.
- Held action: what an approver releases.
For the wider topic, read AI agent skills by role.
Where the Academy fits
A business can make approval rights depend on a current certificate, depth by depth. Certified Pryme Operator, from Pryme Intelligence Academy, is built for the people who approve agent actions daily and requires a two-week practicum of real review decisions with no missed red line, signed off by a Pryme assessor.
Questions people ask
Can an agent approve another agent's held actions?
Not in the sense used here. A held action waits for a named person. An orchestrating agent may coordinate others, but approval of held actions stays with people.
What happens when an approver's certificate lapses?
Under a policy tying approval rights to a current certificate, their rights pause and items route to a deputy until renewal shows at source.