LensReading which lens this session carries.
Research & Development/Prototype & Pilot

Sub-function

Prototype & Pilot

Owns prototype work end to end inside Research & Development. Runs 3 lines across 17 stations, drains the repeatable share into the C2L tower, and holds 4 human gates.

orchestrator Prototype Orchestratorhuman owner Director, Product Development routes into c2l

Estate rating

BBB

71 / 100

autonomy 76%cap 76%

Test execution, iteration tracking and feedback synthesis are agentic. Deciding to scale a pilot commits capital and operations capacity.

Agents

8

Lines

3

Units / wk

5,131

Timetable vs actual

16.5h → 16.8h

Cost / unit

$9.63

was $27

Run-rate saving

$4.8M

annualized at this volume

The 8 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.

Prototype Orchestrator

Owns the prototype & pilot lane end to end. Sequences the other agents, holds the timetable, and decides what surfaces to a human.

ObserveA3187 / 24h95%11% ovr$1.98/task

ceiling A3 · escalates to Escalates to Director, Product Development when the unit falls outside the decision envelope or confidence drops below the floor.

AI GBSRuns the shared transaction spine.

Build Planning Agent

Runs the repeatable portion of prototype & pilot inside the shared transaction spine at spine cost and spine controls.

AI GBSA31,366 / 24h92%6% ovr$0.58/task

ceiling A3 · escalates to Escalates to Director, Product Development when the unit falls outside the decision envelope or confidence drops below the floor.

Pilot Site Agent

Runs the repeatable portion of prototype & pilot inside the shared transaction spine at spine cost and spine controls.

AI GBSA32,316 / 24h88%5% ovr$0.18/task

ceiling A3 · escalates to Escalates to Director, Product Development when the unit falls outside the decision envelope or confidence drops below the floor.

TaskExecutes stations on a line.

Test Plan Agent

Executes the prototype & pilot step it owns, posts its evidence, and hands the unit to the next stage.

WorkflowA32,059 / 24h88%2% ovr$0.29/task

ceiling A3 · escalates to Escalates to Director, Product Development when the unit falls outside the decision envelope or confidence drops below the floor.

Iteration Tracking Agent

Executes the prototype & pilot step it owns, posts its evidence, and hands the unit to the next stage.

WorkflowA3207 / 24h90%6% ovr$0.26/task

ceiling A3 · escalates to Escalates to Director, Product Development when the unit falls outside the decision envelope or confidence drops below the floor.

Feedback Synthesis Agent

Executes the prototype & pilot step it owns, posts its evidence, and hands the unit to the next stage.

WorkflowA3818 / 24h94%1% ovr$0.36/task

ceiling A3 · escalates to Escalates to Director, Product Development when the unit falls outside the decision envelope or confidence drops below the floor.

Scale Readiness Agent

Executes the prototype & pilot step it owns, posts its evidence, and hands the unit to the next stage.

WorkflowA3683 / 24h90%2% ovr$0.07/task

ceiling A3 · escalates to Escalates to Director, Product Development when the unit falls outside the decision envelope or confidence drops below the floor.

ChallengerPaid to disagree before a human has to.

Prototype & Pilot Challenger Agent

Adversarial reviewer for prototype & pilot. Argues the opposite case on every position and flags where the evidence does not carry the claim.

StrategyA2141 / 24h88%5% ovr$5.90/task

ceiling A3 · 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 Coverage65
Evidence Quality66
Override Discipline83
Data Integrity74
Recovery Readiness84
Cost Transparency74
Judgment Readiness52

People

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

headcount on this work42.528.1 FTE

Redeployed into customer-facing escalation ownership.

inference cost per unit$1.78

Lines running in this sub-function

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

12 clear3 evidenced3 held
RD6APrototype CycleTransactional · 7 stations

Define target

2 live

Plan build

26 q

Build

1 live

Test

9 q

Synthesize feedback

1 live

Iterate

19 q

Readiness review

1 live

RD6BPilot DeploymentTransactional · 6 stations

Select site

2 live

Prepare

1 live

Approve pilot

2 live

Run

43 q

Measure

2 live

Scale decision

2 live

RD6CScale Readiness AssessmentAnalytical · 4 stations

Score readiness

1 live

Identify gaps

3 live

Draft plan

36 q

Leader review

9 q

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.

RD6-POS-100

Prototype & Pilot Operating Position

In challengev3

Should prototype work stay in the shared transaction spine, or come back inside the function where the context lives?

Hold the ceiling at A3 for prototype & pilot. Test execution, iteration tracking and feedback synthesis are agentic. Deciding to scale a pilot commits capital and operations capacity. Raise it only after two consecutive quarters where the override rate stays under five percent and every override has a written cause.

confidence

71%

The challenge — Prototype & Pilot Challenger Agent

Prototype & Pilot Challenger Agent argues the recommendation leans on 4 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 16 percent for two consecutive months
  • ·Cost per prototype 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$866k run rateKnown and priced. Cedes ground if comparators move faster.live
Raise the ceiling one level now$672k to build controlsOverride rate is 12 percent; raising the ceiling before that settles imports the error into production.rejected on evidence
Move the exception tail to the spine$801k transitionLoses local context. Rework risk on the cases that are hardest to recover.under review
authored by Prototype Orchestratorratifier Director, Product Development3 stated assumptions

Policy register

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

RefRuleScopeOwner agentApproved byVersionStatus
RD6-POL-200

Prototype & Pilot Decision Envelope

Agents in this lane may act without a human when the prototype 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 · EU · UK · US

envelopePrototype OrchestratorDirector, Product Developmentv1.5Active
RD6-POL-201

Prototype & Pilot 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 · US · Canada

evidencePrototype OrchestratorDirector, Product Developmentv3.2Active
RD6-POL-202

Prototype & Pilot Escalation Rule

Escalation is mandatory when confidence falls below the floor, when two options sit inside the confidence band, or when a break condition on a ratified position fires. Director, Product Development owns the response clock.

binds 6 agents · Global

escalationPrototype OrchestratorDirector, Product Developmentv4.9Active
RD6-POL-203

Prototype & Pilot Autonomy Ceiling

The ceiling for this lane is 76 on the platform scale. Test execution, iteration tracking and feedback synthesis are agentic. Deciding to scale a pilot commits capital and operations capacity. The ceiling is a governance decision, not a technical limit, and only Director, Product Development can propose moving it.

binds 6 agents · Global · EU

ceilingPrototype OrchestratorDirector, Product Developmentv4.3Active