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Automation design

Template id: automation-design

Responsible skill: automation:automation-process-design. The review section is completed with automation:human-in-the-loop, the exceptions section with automation:exception-handling, the connectors section with automation:automation-connector-governance and the monitoring section with automation:automation-monitoring.

Complete this design before build starts on any automation with AI steps or at risk tier 2 and above, and update it whenever the process, policy or systems change. Every fact the organisation must supply is marked [To confirm: ...]. Example rows are fictional. A design is ready for build only when every branch has a written rule, every AI step has a fallback and every exception has an owner.

1. Automation and ownership

Field	Entry
Automation name	[To confirm]
Process it supports	[To confirm]
Automation assessment reference	[To confirm]
Process owner (business)	[To confirm: name and role]
Technical owner	[To confirm: team and role]
Exception owner(s)	[To confirm: role and team for each exception type]
Risk tier	[To confirm: tier and date set]
Target environment	[To confirm: environment and governance zone]

Field

Entry

Automation name

[To confirm]

Process it supports

[To confirm]

Automation assessment reference

[To confirm]

Process owner (business)

[To confirm: name and role]

Technical owner

[To confirm: team and role]

Exception owner(s)

[To confirm: role and team for each exception type]

Risk tier

[To confirm: tier and date set]

Target environment

[To confirm: environment and governance zone]

2. Process changes made before automation

Step removed, consolidated or changed	Reason	Agreed by	Date
Fictional example: manual re-keying of order into second system	Duplicate of system integration	Process owner	[To confirm]
[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]

Step removed, consolidated or changed

Reason

Agreed by

Date

Fictional example: manual re-keying of order into second system

Duplicate of system integration

Process owner

[To confirm]

Input changes requested at source (forms, templates, supplier files):

Input	Change	Owner	Status
[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	Requested / Agreed / Done

Input

Change

Owner

Status

[To confirm]

Requested / Agreed / Done

3. Future-state steps

Step type is one of Human, Flow, AI step, Desktop flow, Approval.

No.	Step	Type	Input	Output	Rule or task	Owner	Exception route
1	Fictional example: receive supplier invoice	Flow	Email with attachment	Stored file and item key	Trigger on shared mailbox, filter by sender domain	Technical owner	Not a supplier: route to accounts queue
2	Fictional example: extract invoice fields	AI step	Invoice file	Supplier, number, date, total, currency	See section 4	Technical owner	Low confidence: review queue
[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]

No.

Step

Type

Input

Output

Rule or task

Owner

Exception route

Fictional example: receive supplier invoice

Flow

Email with attachment

Stored file and item key

Trigger on shared mailbox, filter by sender domain

Technical owner

Not a supplier: route to accounts queue

Fictional example: extract invoice fields

AI step

Invoice file

Supplier, number, date, total, currency

See section 4

Technical owner

Low confidence: review queue

[To confirm]

4. AI step definitions

Complete one block per AI step.

Field	Entry
Step number and name	[To confirm]
Why AI is needed here (input unstructured or output is language)	[To confirm]
Task, stated precisely	[To confirm: for example extract these six fields; classify into these categories]
Model or AI capability, and where it is deployed	[To confirm: check source records before naming a capability]
Output shape (fields and allowed values)	[To confirm]
Validation rules applied before use	[To confirm]
Confidence or validity threshold, and who agreed it	[To confirm: threshold, owner and date agreed, before testing]
Fallback when validation fails or confidence is low	[To confirm]
Evaluation sample (size, source, location)	[To confirm]
Accuracy achieved in testing	[To confirm]

Field

Entry

Step number and name

[To confirm]

Why AI is needed here (input unstructured or output is language)

[To confirm]

Task, stated precisely

[To confirm: for example extract these six fields; classify into these categories]

Model or AI capability, and where it is deployed

[To confirm: check source records before naming a capability]

Output shape (fields and allowed values)

[To confirm]

Validation rules applied before use

[To confirm]

Confidence or validity threshold, and who agreed it

[To confirm: threshold, owner and date agreed, before testing]

Fallback when validation fails or confidence is low

[To confirm]

Evaluation sample (size, source, location)

[To confirm]

Accuracy achieved in testing

[To confirm]

5. Human review and approval

Effect point	Review mode	Reviewer role	Information shown	Time limit	Escalation and delegate	Outcome on timeout
Fictional example: payment released	Approval before effect	Accounts approver	Invoice, extracted fields, confidence, purchase order match	2 working days	Finance team lead; named delegate	Hold and escalate
[To confirm]	None / Sampled / On exception / Approval / Two-person	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]

Effect point

Review mode

Reviewer role

Information shown

Time limit

Escalation and delegate

Outcome on timeout

Fictional example: payment released

Approval before effect

Accounts approver

Invoice, extracted fields, confidence, purchase order match

2 working days

Finance team lead; named delegate

Hold and escalate

[To confirm]

None / Sampled / On exception / Approval / Two-person

[To confirm]

Reviewer capacity: expected items per day [To confirm] multiplied by review minutes per item [To confirm], against declared capacity [To confirm].

Evidence required before any step moves to a lighter review mode: [To confirm].

6. Exceptions and failure handling

Failure or exception class	Response	Retry rule	Owner	Response time
Transient technical	[To confirm]	[To confirm: attempts, delay, cap; idempotent steps only]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]
Permanent technical	[To confirm]	No retry	[To confirm]	[To confirm]
AI output invalid	[To confirm]	At most one controlled retry	[To confirm]	[To confirm]
AI low confidence or filtered	Route to review with reason	No retry	[To confirm]	[To confirm]
Business exception	[To confirm]	Not applicable	[To confirm]	[To confirm]
Partial run	[To confirm: resume from checkpoint or compensate]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]

Failure or exception class

Response

Retry rule

Owner

Response time

Transient technical

[To confirm]

[To confirm: attempts, delay, cap; idempotent steps only]

[To confirm]

Permanent technical

[To confirm]

No retry

[To confirm]

AI output invalid

[To confirm]

At most one controlled retry

[To confirm]

AI low confidence or filtered

Route to review with reason

No retry

[To confirm]

Business exception

[To confirm]

Not applicable

[To confirm]

Partial run

[To confirm: resume from checkpoint or compensate]

[To confirm]

Exception queue location: [To confirm].

7. Systems, connectors and connections

Connector or system	Operations used	Data carried	Permitted in target environment	Production identity	Connection owner
[To confirm]	Read / Create / Update / Delete / Send	[To confirm]	Yes / Exception requested	[To confirm: service account or service principal, never personal]	[To confirm]

Connector or system

Operations used

Data carried

Permitted in target environment

Production identity

Connection owner

[To confirm]

Read / Create / Update / Delete / Send

[To confirm]

Yes / Exception requested

[To confirm: service account or service principal, never personal]

[To confirm]

Connector exceptions: [To confirm: reference, approver and review date, or none].

8. Monitoring and alerts

Signal	Threshold	Alert to	Expected response
Run failure	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]
Missing runs (heartbeat)	[To confirm: expected minimum per period]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]
Exception queue age	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]
AI validation failure, low confidence and override rates	[To confirm: baseline from testing]	[To confirm]	Re-test against evaluation sample
Connection and credential expiry	[To confirm: warning period]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]

Signal

Threshold

Alert to

Expected response

Run failure

[To confirm]

Missing runs (heartbeat)

[To confirm: expected minimum per period]

[To confirm]

Exception queue age

[To confirm]

AI validation failure, low confidence and override rates

[To confirm: baseline from testing]

[To confirm]

Re-test against evaluation sample

Connection and credential expiry

[To confirm: warning period]

[To confirm]

9. Value baseline

Measure	Baseline	Source and period	Target
Cycle time	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]
Handling effort per item	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]
Error or rework rate	[To confirm]	[To confirm]	[To confirm]
Expected review and exception effort after go-live	[To confirm]	Estimate	Not applicable

Measure

Baseline

Source and period

Target

Cycle time

[To confirm]

Handling effort per item

[To confirm]

Error or rework rate

[To confirm]

Expected review and exception effort after go-live

[To confirm]

Estimate

Not applicable

10. Reviews and sign-off

Reviewer	Required from tier	Finding summary	Blocking or advisory	Status
Design authority	2	[To confirm]	Blocking / Advisory	Open / Closed
Security and privacy	2	[To confirm]	Blocking / Advisory	Open / Closed
Responsible AI	3	[To confirm]	Blocking / Advisory	Open / Closed

Reviewer

Required from tier

Finding summary

Blocking or advisory

Status

Design authority

[To confirm]

Blocking / Advisory

Open / Closed

Security and privacy

[To confirm]

Blocking / Advisory

Open / Closed

Responsible AI

[To confirm]

Blocking / Advisory

Open / Closed

Role	Name	Decision	Date
Process owner	[To confirm]	Approved / Not approved	[To confirm]
Technical owner	[To confirm]	Approved / Not approved	[To confirm]

Role

Name

Decision

Date

Process owner

[To confirm]

Approved / Not approved

[To confirm]

Technical owner

[To confirm]

Approved / Not approved

[To confirm]

Credit: Template from CopilotForge by Simon Foote (https://github.com/SimonFoote-greensparx/CopilotForge), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Keep this credit when you share or adapt the template; in your own completed document you may keep it as a footer or remove it.

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