Governance Overview

Field	Value
Document ID	ASCEND-GOV-005
Version	1.0.0
Last Updated	December 19, 2025
Author	Ascend Engineering Team
Publisher	OW-KAI Technologies Inc.
Classification	Enterprise Client Documentation
Compliance	SOC 2 CC6.1/CC6.2, PCI-DSS 7.1/8.3, HIPAA 164.312, NIST 800-53 AC-2/SI-4

Reading Time: 8 minutes | Skill Level: Beginner

Introduction

ASCEND governance provides enterprise-grade control over AI agent actions. Every action is evaluated, audited, and either approved, denied, or escalated based on configurable policies.

Governance Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        ASCEND GOVERNANCE ARCHITECTURE                                │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                                      │
│     ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐     │
│     │                          ACTION SUBMISSION                               │     │
│     │                                                                          │     │
│     │   Agent → API Key Auth → Rate Limit Check → Action Received             │     │
│     └───────────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┘     │
│                                         │                                            │
│                                         ▼                                            │
│     ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐     │
│     │                          RISK ASSESSMENT                                 │     │
│     │                                                                          │     │
│     │   ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐   │     │
│     │   │ Environment │  │   Action    │  │  Resource   │  │    PII      │   │     │
│     │   │   Weight    │  │   Weight    │  │ Multiplier  │  │   Weight    │   │     │
│     │   │             │  │             │  │             │  │             │   │     │
│     │   │ prod: 35    │  │ delete: 25  │  │ db: 1.2x    │  │ high: 30    │   │     │
│     │   │ stag: 20    │  │ write: 20   │  │ s3: 1.1x    │  │ med: 20     │   │     │
│     │   │ dev: 5      │  │ read: 10    │  │ lambda: 0.9 │  │ low: 10     │   │     │
│     │   └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘   │     │
│     │                                                                          │     │
│     │   Risk Score = (Env × 35%) + (Data × 33%) + (Action × 25%) + (Ctx × 7%) │     │
│     └───────────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┘     │
│                                         │                                            │
│                                         ▼                                            │
│     ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐     │
│     │                          POLICY EVALUATION                               │     │
│     │                                                                          │     │
│     │   Smart Rules → Agent Policies → Org Policies → Global Defaults         │     │
│     └───────────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────┘     │
│                                         │                                            │
│                          ┌──────────────┼──────────────┐                            │
│                          │              │              │                            │
│                          ▼              ▼              ▼                            │
│     ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐  ┌─────────────┐             │
│     │   AUTO      │  │  PENDING    │  │   DENIED    │  │  ESCALATED  │             │
│     │  APPROVE    │  │  APPROVAL   │  │             │  │             │             │
│     │             │  │             │  │             │  │             │             │
│     │ Risk < 30   │  │ 30 ≤ Risk   │  │ Policy      │  │ Risk > 80   │             │
│     │             │  │     < 80    │  │ block       │  │             │             │
│     └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘  └─────────────┘             │
│                                                                                      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Core Components

1. Risk Assessment

Dynamic risk scoring for every action:

# Risk is calculated from multiple factors
risk_score = calculate_risk(
    environment="production",      # Environment weight
    action_type="database.delete", # Action weight
    resource="customers",          # Resource multiplier
    data_classification="pii"      # PII weight
)
# Result: 0-100 risk score

2. Smart Rules

AI-powered rules that learn from patterns:

# Smart rules provide intelligent detection
rule = {
    "name": "High-Value Transaction Alert",
    "condition": "action_type == 'financial.transfer' AND amount > 10000",
    "action": "require_approval",
    "risk_level": "high"
}

3. Approval Workflows

Configurable approval paths based on risk:

Risk Level	Workflow	Description
Low (0-30)	Auto-approve	No human intervention
Medium (30-60)	Single approval	One approver required
High (60-80)	Multi-approval	Multiple approvers required
Critical (80-100)	Escalation	Security team review

4. Audit Logging

Immutable, compliance-ready audit trail:

{
  "action_id": 12345,
  "agent_id": "finance-bot-001",
  "action_type": "database.query",
  "risk_score": 45,
  "decision": "approved",
  "approver": "admin@company.com",
  "timestamp": "2025-12-15T10:30:00Z"
}

Decision Flow

Action Evaluation Process

# Source: routes/authorization_routes.py
def evaluate_action(action):
    """Full governance evaluation pipeline."""

    # 1. Calculate risk score
    risk_score = calculate_risk_score(action)

    # 2. Check Smart Rules
    rule_matches = evaluate_smart_rules(action)

    # 3. Check Agent Policies
    policy_decision = evaluate_agent_policies(action)

    # 4. Determine final decision
    if policy_decision.is_blocked():
        return Decision.DENIED

    if risk_score < agent.auto_approve_below:
        return Decision.AUTO_APPROVED

    if risk_score > agent.max_risk_threshold:
        return Decision.ESCALATED

    return Decision.PENDING_APPROVAL

Decision Matrix

Risk Score	Agent Type	Smart Rules	Decision
15	supervised	No match	Auto-approve
45	supervised	No match	Pending approval
75	supervised	No match	Pending approval
85	supervised	No match	Escalation
30	autonomous	No match	Auto-approve (threshold 40)
50	autonomous	No match	Escalation (threshold 60)
Any	Any	Block rule	Denied

Governance Features

Smart Rules Engine

Natural language rule creation
ML-powered suggestions
A/B testing for optimization
Real-time performance metrics

Risk Configuration

Customizable weights
Environment-aware scoring
PII sensitivity factors
Version-controlled configs

Approval Workflows

Single-approval paths
Multi-approval requirements
Time-based escalation
Webhook notifications

Compliance

SOC 2 Type II ready
HIPAA compliant logging
SOX audit trails
PCI-DSS controls

Quick Start

1. Submit an Action

from ascend import AscendClient

client = AscendClient(api_key="owkai_...")

result = client.evaluate_action(
    action_type="database.query",
    resource="customers",
    parameters={"query": "SELECT * FROM users"}
)

print(f"Decision: {result.decision}")
print(f"Risk Score: {result.risk_score}")

2. Check the Decision

if result.execution_allowed:
    # Proceed with action
    execute_query()
    client.log_action_completed(result.action_id)
elif result.is_pending():
    # Wait for approval
    final = client.wait_for_decision(result.action_id)
else:
    # Action denied
    print(f"Denied: {result.reason}")

3. Review in Dashboard

View action in audit log
Check risk breakdown
Review policy matches
Monitor trends

API Endpoints

Endpoint	Method	Description
`/api/v1/actions/submit`	POST	Submit action for governance
`/api/v1/actions/{id}`	GET	Get action status
`/api/v1/actions/{id}/approve`	POST	Approve pending action
`/api/v1/actions/{id}/deny`	POST	Deny pending action
`/api/smart-rules`	GET	List smart rules
`/api/risk-scoring/config`	GET	Get risk configuration

Compliance Mapping

Standard	Requirement	Implementation
SOC 2 CC6.1	Access control	Policy evaluation
SOC 2 CC6.7	Data protection	Risk assessment
SOC 2 CC7.2	Incident response	Kill-switch
NIST AC-3	Access enforcement	Approval workflows
NIST AU-2	Audit events	Immutable logging
HIPAA 164.312	Access controls	Multi-approval
PCI-DSS 7.1	Need-to-know	Policy rules

Best Practices

Start with supervised agents — Use human approval for initial deployment
Configure smart rules — Catch patterns before they become incidents
Tune risk thresholds — Adjust based on your security requirements
Review audit logs — Regular review catches anomalies early
Test approval workflows — Ensure escalation paths work correctly

Next Steps

Smart Rules — AI-powered rule engine
Approval Workflows — Configure approvals
Risk Assessment — Customize scoring
Audit Logging — Compliance-ready logs

Document Version: 1.0.0 | Last Updated: December 2025

Introduction​

Governance Architecture​

Core Components​

1. Risk Assessment​

2. Smart Rules​

3. Approval Workflows​

4. Audit Logging​

Decision Flow​

Action Evaluation Process​

Decision Matrix​

Governance Features​

Smart Rules Engine​

Risk Configuration​

Approval Workflows​

Compliance​

Quick Start​

1. Submit an Action​

2. Check the Decision​

3. Review in Dashboard​

API Endpoints​

Compliance Mapping​

Best Practices​

Next Steps​