01. Approved source
Name the systems, records, and owners that are allowed to support each class of question. Define priority when multiple approved sources exist.
Original operating framework
The Business Brain operating model
Eight connected stages define how approved knowledge becomes accountable operational work. The framework can be used to design, evaluate, and govern a Business Brain.
- Knowledge side
- Approved source, evidence, and answer.
- Control side
- Decision, approval, and constrained action.
- Learning side
- Audit and outcome records that improve the system.
01
Stages 01 to 03
Begin with authority before generating an answer.
The quality of the response is limited by the quality and governance of the evidence that enters it.
02. Evidence
Retrieve the smallest useful evidence set, preserve its origin, respect source permissions, and attach freshness information.
03. Answer
Produce a direct response that cites important claims, exposes uncertainty, and refuses to invent an answer when evidence is insufficient.
02
Stages 04 to 06
Put human accountability between information and business impact.
The answer can inform a decision, but only an authorized path should turn that decision into a system change.
04. Decision
Record the business choice, the evidence used, the accountable person, and any conditions that need to remain true.
05. Approval
Apply role, threshold, and exception rules. Some low-risk decisions may proceed automatically while sensitive actions wait for a named reviewer.
06. Action
Execute only the approved change, against the intended system, with validation and a safe failure path.
03
Stages 07 to 08
Close the loop with an audit record and a real outcome.
A system that only records its inputs cannot tell the business whether the process actually worked.
07. Audit
Preserve the question, evidence, model or rule version, decision, approval, system action, timestamp, and responsible identities.
08. Outcome
Capture what happened after the action: completed, rejected, corrected, delayed, or commercially successful. Use it for review rather than automatic self-justification.
Evaluation loop
Sample live interactions, test known edge cases, review false answers and blocked work, and update source or control rules deliberately.
Apply the framework
Score one real workflow against all eight stages.
Score your sources, access rules, decision process, and workflow readiness. You will get a practical recommendation, not a generic maturity grade.
Assess your business