Begin with the business capability
Describe the outcome the organisation needs and the work required to achieve it. Then examine whether AI is appropriate for a bounded part of that work. A deterministic rule, clearer process or better search may be sufficient.
Keep alternatives visible so the architecture is not built around a technology chosen before the problem was understood.
Map the system boundaries
Identify the systems of record, approved information sources, interfaces and permissions. Establish where information is read, transformed or written. Keep authoritative records separate from generated suggestions.
For example, a proposed assistant might read approved guidance and draft a recommendation while an existing case-management system retains the official record. This is an illustrative pattern, not a delivered client result.
Design the decision and action boundary
State what the model can propose and what a controlled application may execute. Validate inputs and outputs at system boundaries. Use explicit authorisation for writes and consequential actions rather than assuming model instructions are an access-control mechanism.
A person responsible for approval needs a meaningful view of the evidence, not merely a confirmation button.
Include operation in the architecture
Plan how the system is observed, evaluated, changed and recovered. Identify ownership of cost, service quality, access and incidents. Specify the conditions that suspend the workflow or return it to a non-AI process.
Architecture is incomplete when it explains a successful demonstration but not a failed request, unavailable provider or change in source information.
Document choices that can be reviewed
Record the problem, considered options, chosen approach, assumptions and reasons for rejecting alternatives. Connect that record to evaluation evidence and approval responsibility.
The aim is not more documentation for its own sake. It is a decision another person can understand, challenge and revisit when conditions change.
Further reading
This is Theory Y’s practical interpretation, not a reproduction of a standard or a claim of certification.
