LensReading which lens this session carries.

Sub-function

H2R Control Tower

Owns payroll transaction work end to end inside AI GBS & Global Business Services. Runs 4 lines across 27 stations, drains the repeatable share into the H2R tower, and holds 3 human gates.

orchestrator Hire-to-Retire Tower Orchestratorhuman owner Tower Lead, Hire-to-Retire routes into h2r

Estate rating

A

81 / 100

autonomy 78%cap 91%

The tower processes at scale with deterministic rules. Payroll disbursement keeps a dual human approval because an error is unrecoverable within the pay cycle.

Agents

12

Lines

4

Units / wk

25,526

Timetable vs actual

16.8h → 18.8h

Cost / unit

$7.21

was $26

Run-rate saving

$24.9M

annualized at this volume

The 12 agents running this sub-function

Grouped by what they are for, not by where they sit. The agent org is process-shaped.

OrchestratorOwns the queue and arbitrates between desks.

Hire-to-Retire Tower Orchestrator

Owns the h2r control tower lane end to end. Sequences the other agents, holds the timetable, and decides what surfaces to a human.

ObserveA3190 / 24h95%5% ovr$9.57/task

ceiling A4 · escalates to Escalates to Tower Lead, Hire-to-Retire when the unit falls outside the decision envelope or confidence drops below the floor.

AI GBSRuns the shared transaction spine.

Employee Lifecycle Agent

Runs the repeatable portion of h2r control tower inside the shared transaction spine at spine cost and spine controls.

AI GBSA4329 / 24h95%6% ovr$0.22/task

ceiling A4 · escalates to Escalates to Tower Lead, Hire-to-Retire when the unit falls outside the decision envelope or confidence drops below the floor.

Benefits Administration Agent

Runs the repeatable portion of h2r control tower inside the shared transaction spine at spine cost and spine controls.

AI GBSA43,828 / 24h97%2% ovr$0.56/task

ceiling A4 · escalates to Escalates to Tower Lead, Hire-to-Retire when the unit falls outside the decision envelope or confidence drops below the floor.

Case Deflection Agent

Runs the repeatable portion of h2r control tower inside the shared transaction spine at spine cost and spine controls.

AI GBSA41,900 / 24h94%6% ovr$0.46/task

ceiling A4 · escalates to Escalates to Tower Lead, Hire-to-Retire when the unit falls outside the decision envelope or confidence drops below the floor.

TaskExecutes stations on a line.

Payroll Run Agent

Executes the h2r control tower step it owns, posts its evidence, and hands the unit to the next stage.

WorkflowA42,605 / 24h91%6% ovr$0.26/task

ceiling A4 · escalates to Escalates to Tower Lead, Hire-to-Retire when the unit falls outside the decision envelope or confidence drops below the floor.

Time & Absence Agent

Executes the h2r control tower step it owns, posts its evidence, and hands the unit to the next stage.

WorkflowA42,763 / 24h97%5% ovr$0.22/task

ceiling A4 · escalates to Escalates to Tower Lead, Hire-to-Retire when the unit falls outside the decision envelope or confidence drops below the floor.

Exception Triage Agent

Executes the h2r control tower step it owns, posts its evidence, and hands the unit to the next stage.

WorkflowA44,063 / 24h96%7% ovr$0.38/task

ceiling A4 · escalates to Escalates to Tower Lead, Hire-to-Retire when the unit falls outside the decision envelope or confidence drops below the floor.

ObserveWatches signals and watches the agents.

Employee Data Integrity Agent

Watches h2r control tower continuously. Detects drift, quantifies it, and routes what matters without waiting for a reporting cycle.

ObserveA410 / 24h96%7% ovr$10/task

ceiling A4 · escalates to Escalates to Tower Lead, Hire-to-Retire when the unit falls outside the decision envelope or confidence drops below the floor.

PolicyAuthors and versions the binding rules.

Statutory Filing Agent

Holds the rules that bind every other agent in h2r control tower. Versions them, tests them against live decisions, and blocks work that breaches them.

PolicyA225 / 24h96%10% ovr$4.12/task

ceiling A4 · escalates to Escalates on any decision that would breach a live policy version, with the clause cited.

H2R Control Agent

Holds the rules that bind every other agent in h2r control tower. Versions them, tests them against live decisions, and blocks work that breaches them.

PolicyA2218 / 24h96%12% ovr$4.78/task

ceiling A4 · escalates to Escalates on any decision that would breach a live policy version, with the clause cited.

StrategyForms and defends a position.

H2R Service Doctrine Agent

Authors positions on h2r control tower. Frames the question, models the options, and writes a recommendation a human can ratify or reject.

StrategyA264 / 24h91%5% ovr$6.12/task

ceiling A4 · escalates to Escalates when two options sit inside the confidence band and the evidence cannot separate them.

ChallengerPaid to disagree before a human has to.

H2R Control Tower Challenger Agent

Adversarial reviewer for h2r control tower. Argues the opposite case on every position and flags where the evidence does not carry the claim.

StrategyA260 / 24h93%13% ovr$7.69/task

ceiling A4 · escalates to Escalates when a ratified position is still running against a break condition it flagged.

Estate rating breakdown

Seven control dimensions. Judgment readiness runs against autonomy on purpose.

Control Coverage84
Evidence Quality77
Override Discipline90
Data Integrity89
Recovery Readiness88
Cost Transparency84
Judgment Readiness59

People

What the humans stopped doing, and what they do now.

headcount on this work60.638.3 FTE

Redeployed into exception judgment and supplier relationship work.

inference cost per unit$1.86

Lines running in this sub-function

Each line is a workflow. Click a line to walk it station by station.

14 clear4 evidenced3 held
GB1APayroll CycleTransactional · 9 stations

Lock inputs

20 q

Validate

33 q

Gross to net

1 live

Variance analysis

9 q

Anomaly review

2 live

Approve

3 q

Disburse

1 live

Post

1 live

Statutory file

13 q

GB1BEmployee Data ChangeTransactional · 6 stations

Request

1 live

Validate

2 live

Authority check

1 live

Apply

30 q

Downstream sync

46 q

Confirm

2 live

GB1CTime & Absence CycleTransactional · 6 stations

Collect

1 live

Validate

35 q

Policy check

1 live

Exception review

2 q

Approve

2 live

Feed payroll

2 live

GB1DBenefits EnrollmentTransactional · 6 stations

Open window

32 q

Eligibility

1 live

Elect

27 q

Validate

1 live

Carrier feed

1 live

Confirm

1 live

Strategy positions this sub-function holds

An agent that only executes is a robot. These are the calls it made, the argument against each one, and what would prove it wrong.

GB1-POS-100

H2R Control Tower Operating Position

Ratifiedv2

What operating shape carries twice the current payroll transaction volume without adding headcount, and what breaks first if we are wrong?

Hold the ceiling at A4 for h2r control tower. The tower processes at scale with deterministic rules. Payroll disbursement keeps a dual human approval because an error is unrecoverable within the pay cycle. Raise it only after two consecutive quarters where the override rate stays under five percent and every override has a written cause.

confidence

81%

The challenge — H2R Control Tower Challenger Agent

H2R Control Tower Challenger Agent argues the recommendation leans on 3 quarters of data from a period with no volume shock. The confidence band overlaps the alternative, and the position does not say what it would take to be wrong. Recorded as a dissent, not a block.

Break conditions

  • ·Override rate rises above 14 percent for two consecutive months
  • ·Cost per payroll transaction stops falling while volume keeps rising
  • ·A control failure in this lane reaches a customer or a regulator

Evidence gaps

  • ·No independent test of the control evidence behind the touchless rate
Alternative consideredCostRiskVerdict
Hold the current position$218k run rateKnown and priced. Cedes ground if comparators move faster.not selected
Raise the ceiling one level now$1523k to build controlsOverride rate is 14 percent; raising the ceiling before that settles imports the error into production.rejected on evidence
Move the exception tail to the spine$560k transitionLoses local context. Rework risk on the cases that are hardest to recover.selected
authored by H2R Service Doctrine Agentratifier Tower Lead, Hire-to-Retire3 stated assumptions
outcome did not hold

Ratified 3 months ago. Measured since: cost per payroll transaction rose 9 percent against a forecast that it would fall 20 percent.

Policy register

The rules the agents above are bound by. Version, owner, approver, and the agents each rule constrains.

RefRuleScopeOwner agentApproved byVersionStatus
GB1-POL-200

H2R Control Tower Decision Envelope

Agents in this lane may act without a human when the payroll transaction sits inside the stated value, risk and confidence envelope. Outside it, the unit holds at a gate with a named approver and a running clock.

binds 6 agents · US · Canada

envelopeStatutory Filing AgentTower Lead, Hire-to-Retirev5.0Active
GB1-POL-201

H2R Control Tower Evidence Standard

Every autonomous decision writes inputs, the rule version applied, the model and prompt version, the output and a reversal path. An action with no evidence record is treated as a control failure, not a fast decision.

binds 6 agents · EU · UK

evidenceStatutory Filing AgentTower Lead, Hire-to-Retirev4.7Active