Review asks whether the work is right; approval asks whether this person may commit the business to it. An agent reviewer checks a held draft for accuracy, sources and red lines. An agent approver holds the authority to release it. One person often does both for routine items, but high-value or sensitive actions should separate them.
What does each role do?
| Reviewer | Approver | |
|---|---|---|
| Question answered | Is this draft correct and safe? | May the business do this, and may I authorise it? |
| What they check | Facts, provenance, policy, tone, red lines | Value, risk, authority limits, segregation of duties |
| Basis of their power | Competence in the work | A written approver rule or delegated authority |
| Typical outcome | Approve, edit, decline or pass up | Release or block |
| What the record shows | Who reviewed, what changed, why | Who approved, under which rule |
The definitions of each are set out in what an agent reviewer is and what an agent approver is.
When can one person do both?
When the action is routine and within the person’s own authority. A support adviser who reviews a held refund within their approval limit both checks it and releases it. A payroll administrator who reviews a standard variation and holds authority to approve variations of that type does the same.
The test is simple: is this person competent to judge the draft, and does their approver rule cover this type and value? If yes to both, one decision is enough, and the record shows the same name for both.
When should the roles be split?
Three situations call for separation.
Value or reversibility. Actions at depth 4, such as moving money or taking hard-to-undo steps, often need a second person. A clerk reviews a supplier payment for accuracy; a finance manager approves its release.
Conflict of interest. Whoever set up the item, asked for it or benefits from it should not approve it. That includes the person who owns the agent’s targets.
Specialist judgement. A customer service reviewer may confirm a complaint response is accurate, while only the complaints lead may approve compensation.
Take an insurer’s claims team. A handler reviews a held settlement the agent drafted, corrects a figure and notes the reason. The amount is above the handler’s authority, so the item passes to a senior claims manager, who approves it under the approver rule for that band. Two names, two decisions, both in the record.
Where do agents fit in this?
Never as approvers of held actions. An agent may complete allowed work within its bounds, and an orchestrator at depth 5 may coordinate other agents, but a held action is held precisely so a named person decides. An agent approving another agent’s held item would remove the check.
The agent’s own authority works on similar lines. Its depth is earned through certification on real cases, capped by the role's ceiling, and lapses after 90 days; a run that clears no depth drops it to depth 1 the same day. The people around it should have authority that is just as explicit.
Do reviewers and approvers need different training?
Yes, overlapping but different. Both need the vocabulary: depth, the five bounds of the decision chain, the four verdicts, provenance and red lines. Reviewers need more practice reading drafts and the facts behind them. Approvers need to understand delegated authority, segregation of duties and what their signature means to an auditor.
This links to two wider distinctions. Learning about AI is not the same as learning to oversee agents that act; see the difference between AI training and AI agent training. And completing a course is not the same as being trusted to approve; see the difference between a badge and a certificate and the essay on knowing about AI versus being trusted with it. The role-by-role view is in AI agent skills by role.
Where the Academy fits
In Pryme Intelligence Academy, the Foundations badge shows someone knows the concepts; Certified Pryme Operator shows they have reviewed real decisions under assessment, with no missed red line in a two-week practicum. A business can adopt the practice of tying approval rights to a current certificate, depth by depth, so authority and proven competence stay aligned.
Questions people ask
Can an approver approve without reviewing?
They should not. An approver who releases an item nobody has checked for accuracy is approving blind, and the record will show it.
What if the reviewer and approver disagree?
The approver decides, but the disagreement and the reasons should be recorded. Repeated disagreement on one type of item is a calibration issue.
Do small teams need two people for every held action?
No. Reserve separation for high-value, hard-to-undo or conflicted actions, and set the thresholds in the approver rule.