Delegation ladder
A four-level test that sorts each step of a workflow into Assist, Recommend, Execute or Never delegate. The level depends on volume, consequence, reversibility, how clear the rules are and whether the decision needs legitimacy a model cannot supply.
What it means in practice
The task and decision article reports that AI can automate up to 45% of work activities but only 5% of jobs are fully automatable. It also says accuracy falls to around 65% in ambiguous, judgement-heavy situations, against roughly 85% for experienced humans, and that hiring and dismissal sit permanently at Never delegate.
How we use it
The task and decision article says sorting a process onto the ladder before anything is built keeps a task-shaped process from drifting into decision-shaped calls, and that an audit is largely this same ladder applied to processes already running. It describes the ladder as adapted from a decision-delegation framework. See workflow design and the difference between automating a task and automating a decision.
FAQ
Questions about Delegation ladder
What are the four levels?
Assist, Recommend, Execute and Never delegate. The task and decision article says each step is placed by volume, consequence, reversibility, how clear the rules are and whether the decision needs legitimacy a model cannot supply.
Why not treat a whole workflow as one decision?
Because every real workflow is a chain of steps, and each belongs on its own rung. The article says approving the chain as one block is how a task-shaped process starts making decision-shaped calls nobody scoped it to make.
What it means for a business
A well-scoped AI workflow is one where every step has already been sorted onto the ladder, not approved as one undifferentiated block.
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