Loading…
The category
Execution authority
Policy and human authority for critical AI actions. Before an agent spends, a payment releases, or an order commits, something has to decide whether it may — and under whose approval. That right to act is what Decionis holds, and what it proves afterwards.
Three properties make it authority.
It answers before, not after
The authority is exercised inside the path the action takes — at the checkout, the payment release, the agent's tool call. Permission that arrives after execution is a report, not authority.
A person's approval travels with the action
When the rules say a human decides, that approval is bound to the specific action and carried into execution — not left in a chat thread for someone to reconstruct later.
Every answer leaves proof
Each exercise of authority is recorded and signed, so anyone — your auditor, your bank, your buyer — can verify what was permitted, under which rule and whose approval, without taking your word for it.
What execution authority is not.
The adjacent categories are real and useful — they answer different questions, and Decionis is none of them.
Not a policy engine
Policy engines evaluate rules when something asks them to, then hand the answer back. Execution authority owns the moment itself: the action cannot proceed without it, a person is pulled in when the rules require one, and what was permitted is signed.
Decionis vs Open Policy AgentNot a governance dashboard
GRC suites organize programs, policies, and evidence for people to review. They sit beside the work. Authority sits inside it — nothing reaches execution without passing through.
Decionis vs GRC suitesNot alerting
Alerting tells you what already happened. By the time the alert fires, the agent bought it and the money moved. Authority changes the outcome, not the report.
Decionis vs alerting toolsNot a runtime sandbox
Isolation limits how much damage code can do while it runs. That bounds the blast radius; it does not decide whether the action should happen, or who approved it. The two compose — authority comes first.
Decionis vs runtime layersWhere Decionis gives you execution authority.
For AI agents
Agents propose; Decionis authorizes. Tool calls, purchases, and deploys need permission before they run — and a person's approval when the rules say so.
For commerce
Discounts, price changes, and orders need authority before the order commits, across Shopify, WooCommerce, and the marketplaces.
For your own money
Shield gives your subscriptions and AI assistants a personal permission step — nothing spends without your yes.
Common questions
What is execution authority?
The right to act. Before a critical action runs — an agent's purchase, a payment release, an order below your margin floor — something has to decide whether it may proceed and under whose approval. Execution authority names that function, puts it in one place, and records every use of it.
Isn't this just a policy engine?
No. A policy engine answers a question when something asks it. Execution authority owns the moment: the action cannot proceed without it, a human is brought in when the rules require one, and what was permitted is signed so it can be checked later. Teams often run both — rules in a policy engine, authority at the point of execution.
Where does the human fit?
Exactly where the rules say, and nowhere else. Clear cases proceed instantly, which is what keeps systems fast. When policy calls for a person, the action is held and routed to someone with the authority to decide, and their approval is bound to that specific action.
Who needs it?
Anyone whose systems act faster than their approvals: teams handing agents real tools and real cards, stores whose pricing automations reach checkout directly, finance ops with payment jobs, and consumers whose assistants can spend for them.
How is an exercise of authority proven afterwards?
Something always decides — usually a person reading a document, sometimes nothing at all. Execution authority names that function explicitly and puts it in one place, so the answer is deterministic, carries a named approver when policy requires one, and is recorded rather than reconstructed.