Use this guide for AI agents that will only be deployed within an organization.

How to Use This Guide

Depending on the phase and maturity of the AI agent being built, the accountable owner for each agent should fill out the release documentation below, submit it through the appropriate internal channels for approval, and make the submitted documentation available to users. The accountable owner must complete certain activities before and during each phase.

AI agents intended for a small number of internal, knowledgeable, expert, and trusted users do not need to follow this process. However, builders of agents for internal expert use may still wish to use these principles if they are concerned they may not always be able to reliably verify the agent’s output.

Phase 1: Initial Pilot

This phase, meant to last no more than six months, tests the agent with 10 or fewer internal, knowledgeable, trusted users who are aware of the risks and are experts in the agent’s subject matter area.

Builders should submit the completed pre–phase 1 checklist to the responsible agentic AI lead or a centralized approval body for approval and ensure the agent is only available for use by the specified users.

Download the pre–phase 1 checklist.

Builder or evaluators should use the phase 1 checklist to document the AI tool’s performance along several dimensions. Organizations should at a minimum enforce the submission of these statistics before approving phase 2.

Download the phase 1 checklist.

Phase 2: Internal Launch

This phase expands the tool to all non-expert internal users. Such broader availability brings significant additional risk. Builders or evaluators should submit the pre–phase 2 launch checklist to the responsible agentic AI lead, and a centralized approval body should consider the checklist for expedited approval, before the AI agent is launched organization-wide.

Download the pre–phase 2 checklist.

The accountable owner should ensure that the statistics in the production checklist are measured and reported on to users of the tool at least once a year.

Download the phase 2 checklist.

Next section: Practical Guide to External-Facing AI Agents