Role-based access and visibility
Ensuring that AI system inputs, outputs, and controls are visible only to people with the appropriate role and authority — preventing information leakage while maintaining operational efficiency.
Why it matters
AI systems aggregate and surface information that was previously scattered across systems and people. Without role-based access, AI can inadvertently expose sensitive information — compensation data to the wrong manager, vendor pricing to competitors, or draft financial results before they're approved.
Where it shows up
finance
Draft reporting packs are visible only to the finance team until formally approved. AI-generated commentary is locked to the analyst and controller until the review chain is complete.
hr
Compensation benchmarking outputs are restricted to HR and the relevant department head. Performance calibration data is visible only to calibration committee members during the review period.
procurement
Vendor pricing analysis is restricted to the sourcing team. Supplier risk assessments are visible to procurement leadership but not to the vendors being assessed.
Common mistakes
- Applying access controls to the final output but not to the AI's intermediate analysis
- Using the same access model for AI-assisted workflows as for manual ones — AI often surfaces more data
- Not considering temporal access — who should see draft vs. final outputs
- Over-restricting access so that collaboration becomes impossible
Signals that a workflow needs this pattern
- The workflow handles compensation, pricing, or other commercially sensitive data
- Multiple roles interact with the same workflow at different stages
- The organization has experienced information leakage from shared tools or dashboards
- Regulatory requirements mandate data segregation or need-to-know controls