Glossary

Delegation

The explicit authority a person gives an AI agent, or another principal, to act on their behalf, limited in scope, actions and time.

Delegation answers the question who authorised whom? It lets an agent act for a person without inheriting everything that person can do. Each step in a chain of delegation should narrow authority, never widen it.

Example

A manager delegates to her Claude connection the ability to read client status and create Outlook drafts for her year-end clients until 31 March. It cannot send email or reach clients she does not manage.