Standardize before you automate
Is your model ready to automate — or just eager to?
An agent inherits whatever process you point it at — Deloitte's warning is that layering agents onto broken processes amplifies them. Rate your operating model against the five things that must be true before you automate, mapped to the GSDPI™ lifecycle. Score each honestly; the low scores are what an agent would inherit today.
The intake is standardized0 1 2 3
Work enters one governed front door — not side doors an agent would faithfully automate. A single, defined intake path exists and is followed.
Decisions are codified as rules0 1 2 3
The judgment that handles exceptions is written down as explicit, governed rules — not tribal knowledge the agent won't have.
Execution follows one governed path0 1 2 3
There is a single standardized route the agent runs, with every action logged — not a shortcut it discovers on its own.
Every output is traceable0 1 2 3
Any agent result can be followed back to the work and the rule behind it — an audit trail, not "reported, not proven" at machine speed.
Oversight is designed in0 1 2 3
Governance, monitoring, and human-in-the-loop roles exist before scale — not retrofitted after an incident.
Score /15. 12–15: ready — automation will amplify a model that works. 6–11: partial — agents will inherit real gaps; standardize the low scores first. Below 6: not ready — automating now scales the dysfunction at machine speed. A Zero-Based read across GSDPI closes the gaps; the Traceability Ratio becomes the agent's audit trail. Standardize, make it traceable, then automate.