Governance
When automation needs a human pause
Automation earns trust by knowing its limits. An expense policy financial audit automation app that never hesitates will eventually approve — or reject — something that required judgement.
Build explicit pause conditions. New merchant categories, claims above a controller-set amount, first expense from a new cost centre, or any override that cites “client emergency” more than twice in a week. These are not failures; they are designed slowdowns.
Pause is a control, not a queue dump
Route paused items to a named role with a service level, not to a shared inbox. Record why the pause fired. When the human decision returns, feed it back into whether the rule should change.
Tell auditors about the pauses
A short appendix listing pause types and volumes for the period reassures reviewers that silence in the auto-approved pile is intentional. Several alumni now attach this appendix to their monthly sampling notes.
If your programme cannot name three situations where a human must step in, the automation is probably overconfident. Design the pauses before the next festive travel spike tests them for you.