The COMPEL Glossary Graph visualizes relationships between framework terminology, showing how concepts interconnect across domains, stages, and pillars. Term nodes cluster by pillar affiliation while cross-references reveal semantic dependencies — for example, how risk appetite connects to control effectiveness, model governance, and assurance requirements. This network representation helps practitioners navigate the framework vocabulary and understand that COMPEL terminology forms a coherent conceptual system rather than isolated definitions.
COMPEL Glossary / authority-chain
Authority chain
The traceable lineage from an organization's decision-rights authority — through any delegating humans — to the agent executing the action.
What this means in practice
Required for legal defensibility (Moffatt v. Air Canada established that a chatbot is not an independent legal entity; liability sits on the deployer), regulatory evidence, and post-incident reconstruction.
Synonyms
agent authority chain , delegation chain
See also
- Delegation — The assignment of authority from a human principal to an AI agent to act on the principal's behalf.
- Human oversight (Art. 14) — Under Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, the provider-designed measures that allow natural persons to understand the capacities and limitations of a high-risk AI system, monitor its operation, and intervene or interrupt it.
- Agent Governance Pack — An executive-grade, living artefact aggregating all governance records for a deployed agent — autonomy classification, delegation and authority chain, oversight design, tool bindings, memory scope, kill-switch wiring, risk tier, incident history, and named owners.
- Accountability matrix — A mapping of accountable owners to AI risks, controls, systems, and outcomes — a single place the organization can inspect to see "who is accountable for what" in AI governance.