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Workflows & AI Systems

New Workflow Tabs

Workflows now include 5 tabs for comprehensive governance management: Overview, Ownership, Risk, Controls, and Evidence. This guide covers all tabs in detail.

What is a Workflow?

A workflow in SignalBreak represents a specific AI-powered process in your organisation. It's a unit of work that depends on one or more AI providers and models to accomplish a business task.

Examples include:

  • Customer support ticket summarisation
  • Email classification and routing
  • Content generation for marketing
  • Code review and suggestions
  • Document extraction and analysis

By registering your workflows, SignalBreak can:

  • Monitor provider health and alert you to potential disruptions
  • Assess risk based on your dependencies and business criticality
  • Track signals from providers that may affect your operations
  • Recommend mitigation strategies for high-impact scenarios

Creating Your First Workflow

Step 1: Navigate to Workflows

From the dashboard, click "AI Workflows" in the navigation menu, then select "Add Workflow" or use the "Quick Start" wizard for guided setup.

Step 2: Define Basic Information

When creating a workflow, you'll need to provide:

FieldRequiredDescriptionOptions
Workflow NameYesA clear, descriptive name (max 255 characters)e.g., "Customer Ticket Summarisation"
AI CapabilityYesThe primary AI function this workflow performsSee AI Capabilities below
CriticalityYesHow critical this workflow is to your businessCritical, High, Medium, Low
CategoryNoBusiness function this workflow supportsCustomer Support, Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Operations, Finance, Legal, HR, Product, Other
DescriptionNoDetailed explanation of what this workflow does (max 1000 characters)Free text

Step 3: Set Criticality

Criticality determines how SignalBreak calculates risk scores for this workflow:

LevelWhen to UseRisk Impact
CriticalComplete business stoppage if this fails. Customer-facing, revenue-generating, or legally required processes.Highest risk multiplier (×2.0)
HighSignificant business impact. Major delays or degraded service if this fails.High risk multiplier (×1.5)
MediumModerate impact. Workarounds available but inconvenient.Medium risk multiplier (×1.0)
LowMinor impact. Nice-to-have features or experimental workflows.Low risk multiplier (×0.5)

Tip: Start by mapping your 3-5 most critical workflows—the ones that would hurt most if they failed.

Step 4: Configure AI Capability

The AI Capability field describes what type of AI task this workflow performs:

CapabilityDescriptionTypical Use Cases
SummariseCondensing long-form content into key pointsEmail summaries, document abstracts, meeting notes
ClassifyCategorising or labelling contentTicket routing, sentiment analysis, content moderation
ExtractPulling specific data from unstructured textInvoice parsing, entity extraction, form filling
GenerateCreating new content from prompts or templatesMarketing copy, code generation, email drafting
Retrieval (RAG)Retrieval-augmented generation; finding and using relevant contextQ&A systems, knowledge base search, chatbots
AgentAutonomous AI that plans and executes multi-step tasksComplex automation, research assistants, workflow orchestration
CodeCode generation, review, or analysisCode suggestions, pull request reviews, bug detection
TranslateLanguage translation or localisationMulti-language support, content localisation
ModerateContent moderation and safety checksUser-generated content review, policy enforcement

Managing Provider Bindings

Once you've created a workflow, you must configure at least one provider binding before SignalBreak can monitor it.

What is a Provider Binding?

A provider binding connects your workflow to a specific AI provider and model. It defines:

  • Which provider supplies the AI capability
  • Which model you're using
  • The role of this provider (primary or fallback)
  • Fallback behaviour if the provider fails

Adding Your First Provider Binding

  1. Navigate to the workflow detail page by clicking on your workflow in the list
  2. Click "Add Provider Binding" (or "Add Fallback" if you already have a primary provider)
  3. Select a provider from your enabled providers
  4. Choose a model from the dropdown (only models you've enabled will appear)
  5. Set the binding role:
    • Primary: The default provider used for this workflow
    • Fallback: A backup provider used if the primary fails
  6. Configure fallback type (see below)
  7. Save the binding

Important: Every workflow must have at least one primary provider binding. You can have multiple fallback bindings.

Binding Roles

RolePurposeQuantity
PrimaryThe main provider you use for this workflow in normal operationRequired (at least 1)
FallbackBackup provider(s) used when primary is unavailable or degradedOptional (0 or more)

You can toggle between primary and fallback roles using the role selector on each binding.

Fallback Types

Fallback type controls how SignalBreak recommends handling provider failures:

Fallback TypeDescriptionWhen to Use
No FallbackNo automatic failover configuredYou handle failures manually or have no backup plan
Same Provider, Different ModelSwitch to a different model from the same providerProvider offers alternative models with similar capabilities
Alternative ProviderSwitch to a completely different AI providerYou have contracts with multiple providers for redundancy

Best Practice: Critical workflows should have at least one fallback binding to minimise downtime risk.


Technical Details (Optional Fields)

Usage Pattern

Describes when this workflow runs:

PatternDescription
ContinuousAlways-on, 24/7 operation
Business HoursRuns during office hours only
BatchScheduled batch processing
On DemandTriggered manually or ad-hoc

Volume Band

Expected call volume to the AI provider:

BandEstimated Daily Calls
Low< 1,000 calls/day
Medium1,000 - 10,000 calls/day
High> 10,000 calls/day

Latency Sensitivity

How time-sensitive this workflow is:

SensitivityResponse Time Requirement
LowSeconds to minutes acceptable
MediumSub-second to seconds
HighReal-time (< 500ms)

Human in Loop

Toggle indicating whether a human reviews or approves AI outputs before they're actioned.

  • Yes (default): AI outputs are reviewed by a human
  • No: AI outputs are used directly without human oversight

Ownership

Assign an owner to each workflow to establish accountability:

  • Owner Name: The person responsible for this workflow
  • Owner Role: Their job title or function
  • Owner Email: Contact for notifications about this workflow

Owners receive alerts when:

  • High-impact signals affect their workflow's providers
  • Risk scores exceed thresholds
  • Scenarios require attention

Best Practices

Start Small

Don't try to map every workflow on day one. Focus on your 3-5 most critical workflows first—the ones where failure would have the biggest business impact.

Be Specific

Use clear, descriptive names like "Customer Ticket Summarisation" instead of vague names like "AI Workflow 1".

Assign Owners

Ensure every workflow has a named owner who understands the business context and can respond to alerts.

Configure Fallbacks for Critical Workflows

If a workflow is marked Critical or High, strongly consider adding at least one fallback provider binding.

Review Regularly

As your AI usage evolves, revisit your workflows quarterly to:

  • Update criticality levels
  • Add new provider bindings
  • Retire deprecated workflows
  • Adjust volume bands and usage patterns

Common Issues

"Provider Configuration Required" Warning

Cause: You've created a workflow but haven't added any provider bindings.

Solution: Click "Add Provider Binding" and select a provider from your enabled providers. If you don't have any providers enabled, visit the Providers page first.

"No models enabled for this provider"

Cause: The selected provider doesn't have any models enabled in your account.

Solution: Go to the Models page, select the provider, and enable at least one model that matches your workflow's capability.

"Cannot remove the last primary provider"

Cause: You're trying to delete or change the role of the only primary provider binding.

Solution: Either:

  1. Add a new primary provider binding first, then delete the old one
  2. Change a fallback binding to primary before removing the current primary

Workflow Not Appearing in Risk Assessments

Cause: The workflow either:

  1. Has no provider bindings configured
  2. Has no models assigned to its bindings
  3. Is filtered out by your current view

Solution: Check that your workflow has at least one complete binding (provider + model selected).


Next Steps


Workflow Detail Tabs

Once you've created a workflow, the workflow detail page provides 5 tabs for comprehensive management:

Tab Navigation

Access tabs via: /dashboard/workflows/{workflowId}?tab={tabName}

TabPurposeWhen to Use
OverviewBasic workflow config, provider bindingsInitial setup, add/edit bindings
OwnershipRACI assignments, control ownershipAssign accountability, set team roles
RiskRisk identification and severityView risks, check treatment status
ControlsRisk treatment decisions, mitigation patternsDocument controls, justify risk acceptance
EvidenceStability assessment, compliance evidenceVerify controls work, prepare for audits

Overview Tab

The Overview tab contains the core workflow configuration you set during creation, plus provider bindings management.

Workflow Overview tab showing name, capability, bindings, and risk exposure

What You'll See:

  • Workflow name, AI capability, criticality
  • Business context and description
  • Owner information (name, role, email)
  • Provider bindings list with primary/fallback indicators
  • Quick actions: Add Binding, Edit Workflow, Delete Workflow

For details on provider bindings, see the Managing Provider Bindings section above.


Ownership Tab

Purpose: Establish clear accountability using the RACI model (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) and assign control ownership.

RACI Role Assignments

The Ownership tab displays 5 RACI roles for governance accountability:

RoleRACIResponsibilityExample
Workflow OwnerResponsible (R)Does the work, implements controlsProduct Manager
Executive SponsorAccountable (A)Final decision authority, approves budgetVP of Engineering
Platform LeadConsulted (C)Technical platform expertiseInfrastructure Lead
AI/ML LeadConsulted (C)AI/ML technical guidanceData Science Lead
GRC LeadConsulted (C) / Informed (I)Governance, risk, compliance adviceCompliance Manager

Each role shows:

  • Name and email
  • Role title (e.g., "Security Lead", "Compliance Manager")
  • Color-coded badge indicating RACI responsibility type

How to Set RACI Roles

RACI roles are configured globally at the organization level, then inherited by workflows:

  1. Navigate to GovernanceRACI Model
  2. Configure the 5 roles with names, emails, and titles
  3. Return to this workflow — roles automatically populate
  4. If roles aren't set, you'll see a link: "Configure in Governance → RACI Model"

Best Practice

Set RACI roles once at the organization level. All workflows will inherit these assignments, ensuring consistent accountability across your AI portfolio.

Control Ownership (Coming Soon)

Per-control ownership tracking is planned for future releases:

  • Primary Owner: Main accountability for specific controls
  • Delegate Owner: Backup or support role
  • Framework Mapping: Links controls to ISO 27001, NIST AI RMF, SOC 2
  • Timeline Tracking: Assignment dates and last review dates

Risk Tab

Purpose: View all identified risks for this workflow from the MIT AI Risk Framework, their severity, and treatment status.

Workflow Risk tab showing identified MIT framework risks and their treatment status

What You'll See

Summary Cards (Top Row):

  • Total Risks — Count of all identified risks
  • Primary Risks — Count of primary relevance risks (core AI risks)
  • Untreated — Count of risks without treatment plans (action required)

Risk Cards: Each identified risk displays:

  • Risk Code — MIT Framework code (e.g., MIT-RM-2.1)
  • Relevance Badge — Primary (red) or Secondary (slate)
  • Title — Clear risk description
  • Risk Score — Numerical score (higher = more severe)
  • Severity Badge — Critical (red) / High (orange) / Medium (yellow) / Low (green)
  • Treatment Status — Untreated (amber) / Mitigated (green) / Accepted (blue) / Transferred (purple)
  • Justification — Why treatment approach was chosen (if documented)
  • Review Due Date — When treatment needs re-validation

Risk Severity Levels

SeverityScore RangeMeaningColor
🔴 Critical76-100Immediate action requiredRed background
🟠 High51-75Priority treatment neededOrange background
🟡 Medium26-50Scheduled treatmentYellow background
🟢 Low0-25Monitor and reviewGreen background

Risk Ordering

Risks are displayed in priority order:

  1. Primary risks first — Core AI risks to the workflow
  2. Highest risk score first — Most severe at top
  3. Secondary risks last — Supporting or tangential risks

Viewing Full Risk Register

Click "View Full Risk Register" at the top to navigate to:

  • DashboardRisk Management

This shows the complete risk inventory across all workflows, with industry benchmarking, trends, and decisions tracking.

How Risks are Identified

Risks are automatically synthesized when you complete workflow risk assessments in the Controls tab (see below). You don't manually add risks to this tab — they're generated based on your control configurations and MIT Framework mappings.


Controls Tab

Purpose: Document how you're treating each identified risk through controls, mitigations, acceptances, or transfers.

Workflow Controls tab showing risk treatments and mitigation patterns

What You'll See

Summary Cards (Top Row):

  • Total Controls — Count of all risk treatments
  • Mitigated (green) — Risks with implemented controls
  • Accepted (blue) — Risks consciously accepted
  • Transferred (amber) — Risks passed to third party
  • Untreated (red) — Gaps requiring attention

Control Gaps Section

Highlights untreated controls with amber background:

  • Shows domain identifier
  • Displays justification (if any)
  • Enables quick gap identification for compliance

Example:

⚠️ Control Gap
Domain: MIT-RM-1.1
Justification: Resource constraints - deferred to Q2

Active Controls List

Each control displays:

Basic Information:

  • Domain ID — Which MIT Framework domain this addresses
  • Treatment Status Badge — Color-coded status
  • Control Description — What control is in place
  • Justification — Business rationale for treatment choice

Governance Tracking:

  • Evidence Reference — Link to supporting documentation
  • Decision Maker — Role who approved treatment (e.g., "GRC Lead")
  • Decision Date — When treatment was decided
  • Review Due Date — When control needs re-validation

Treatment Status Options

StatusMeaningWhen to UseColor
UntreatedNo treatment planDefault for new risksAmber
MitigatedControl implementedYou've reduced the riskGreen
AcceptedRisk consciously acceptedCost > benefit, within appetiteBlue
TransferredThird party handles riskInsurance, vendor responsibilityPurple
AvoidedEliminated activityStopped using risky featureSlate

Available Mitigation Patterns

The Controls tab shows 4 categories of mitigation patterns to guide your control selection:

1. Resilience Patterns

Purpose: Technical redundancy and failover mechanisms

Examples:

  • Multi-provider failover (primary + fallback bindings)
  • Circuit breakers for API calls
  • Rate limiting and throttling
  • Graceful degradation strategies

Complexity: Medium-High Implementation Time: 5-10 days

2. Governance Patterns

Purpose: Policy and approval structures

Examples:

  • Human-in-the-loop approval workflows
  • Risk acceptance with authority approval
  • Quarterly governance reviews
  • Compliance framework mapping

Complexity: Low-Medium Implementation Time: 3-7 days

3. Operational Patterns

Purpose: Process improvements and monitoring

Examples:

  • Continuous monitoring and alerting
  • Incident response procedures
  • Model performance tracking
  • Regular audit scheduling

Complexity: Low-Medium Implementation Time: 5-10 days

4. Technical Patterns

Purpose: Infrastructure or system changes

Examples:

  • Model versioning and rollback
  • Input validation and sanitization
  • Output filtering and guardrails
  • Encryption at rest and in transit

Complexity: Medium-High Implementation Time: 7-14 days

Each pattern shows:

  • Complexity Level (Low/Medium/High)
  • Typical Implementation Time (days)
  • Applicability — Which risk types it addresses
  • Implementation Guidance — How to deploy

Documenting a Control

To document a risk treatment:

  1. Navigate to the Controls tab
  2. Identify the untreated control (amber gap indicator)
  3. Choose your treatment approach:
    • Mitigate: Select a mitigation pattern, describe control
    • Accept: Provide business justification for acceptance
    • Transfer: Document transfer arrangement (e.g., vendor SLA)
  4. Add Evidence Reference:
    • Link to policy document
    • Ticket number (JIRA, Linear, etc.)
    • Configuration screenshot
    • Audit trail reference
  5. Set Review Due Date (recommended: +90 days for quarterly review)
  6. Record Decision Maker Role (e.g., "GRC Lead", "Exec Sponsor")
  7. Save the treatment

Good Evidence Examples:

  • ✅ "Fallback provider configured, see binding #42 in Overview tab"
  • ✅ "Human approval workflow implemented, documented in Confluence: [link]"
  • ✅ "Quarterly model review process defined in JIRA-567"
  • ✅ "Control documented in Information Security Policy v2.3, section 4.2"

Insufficient Evidence Examples:

  • ❌ "We do this regularly"
  • ❌ "Handled by team"
  • ❌ "Documented somewhere"

Authority Matrix for Acceptances

When accepting a risk, ensure appropriate decision authority:

Authority LevelMax BudgetCan Accept RiskRequired For
Delegated (Workflow Owner)£5,000❌ NoLow-impact decisions only
Committee (GRC Lead)£25,000✅ YesMedium risks up to £25k
Executive (Exec Sponsor)£100,000✅ YesHigh risks up to £100k
BoardUnlimited✅ YesCritical risks, unlimited impact

Compliance Requirement

Risk acceptances require appropriate authority approval for audit compliance. Critical/High severity risks typically require Executive or Board approval.

Connecting Controls to Risk Register

Treatments documented in the Controls tab automatically update:

  • Risk Tab (this workflow) — Shows treatment status per risk
  • Risk ManagementRisk Register — Organization-wide risk inventory
  • Risk ManagementGapsUntreated Risks — Gaps requiring action

Evidence Tab

Purpose: Demonstrate that your controls are working effectively through stability assessment and compliance evidence collection.

Workflow Evidence tab showing stability score and indicators

What You'll See

Stability Overview Card:

  • Status: Stable (green) or Attention Needed (amber)
  • Stability Score: 0-100% with progress bar
  • Summary: Human-readable explanation of current status

Example:

✅ Workflow is Stable
Stability Score: 92%

All stability criteria are met. No open breaches, recent incidents, or pending
deprecations. Provider integrations are healthy and risk treatments are addressed.

Five Stability Criteria

Each criterion shows ✓ (Met) or count of items needing attention:

CriterionWhat It ChecksWhen It Fails
No Open BreachesNo unresolved security breachesAny open breach exists
No Recent IncidentsNo incidents in defined periodIncidents in last 30 days
Providers HealthyAll provider integrations healthyAny provider degraded/down
No Pending DeprecationsNo scheduled deprecationsModel sunset announced
Treatments AddressedRisk treatments in progress/completeUntreated critical risks exist

How Stability Score is Calculated

Stability Score = (Criteria Met / Total Criteria) × 100

Example:
- 5 out of 5 criteria met → 100%
- 4 out of 5 criteria met → 80%
- 3 out of 5 criteria met → 60% (Attention Needed)

Thresholds:

  • ≥80% = Stable (green background)
  • <80% = Attention Needed (amber background)

Evidence Timeline

The timeline shows stability-affecting events:

Event Types:

  • Today: Current open items requiring attention
  • Active: Ongoing issues
  • Pending: Upcoming reviews or expirations
  • Upcoming: Scheduled deprecations or changes

Example Timeline:

✓ Providers Healthy (Today)
  All 3 provider integrations reporting healthy

⚠ Open Breach (Active - 2 days)
  Security incident SI-2026-042 under investigation

⏰ Treatment Review Due (Pending - 5 days)
  Risk MIT-RM-1.1 treatment needs quarterly re-validation

→ Model Deprecation Announced (Upcoming - 60 days)
  GPT-4 Turbo sunset scheduled for April 2026

Observation Periods (Post-Market Monitoring)

Coming Soon

Observation Status and Evidence Sufficiency sections are placeholders for future post-market monitoring integration. Once configured, these will:

  • Track control effectiveness over defined observation periods
  • Score completeness of evidence collected
  • Support ongoing compliance demonstration

Why Stability Matters for Compliance

High Stability Score = Proof Controls Work

Auditors and regulators want to see:

  1. Controls are documented (Controls tab) ✓
  2. Controls are working (Evidence tab) ✓
  3. Issues are detected and resolved (Stability criteria) ✓

Use Cases:

  • ISO 27001: Demonstrates ongoing control effectiveness
  • SOC 2: Provides evidence of operating effectiveness
  • EU AI Act: Shows post-market monitoring compliance
  • Board Reporting: Proves governance processes are active

Improving Stability Score

If score <80%, address criteria in this order:

  1. No Open Breaches (highest priority)

    • Resolve security incidents immediately
    • Document resolution in incident response log
  2. No Recent Incidents

    • Investigate root causes
    • Implement preventive controls
    • Update incident response procedures
  3. Providers Healthy

    • Check provider status pages
    • Test API connectivity
    • Consider adding fallback bindings
  4. No Pending Deprecations

    • Plan migration to replacement models
    • Test alternative providers
    • Update bindings before sunset date
  5. Treatments Addressed

    • Go to Controls tab
    • Document treatments for untreated risks
    • Set review due dates

Workflow Tab Navigation Tips

Quick Navigation:

  • Use the tab selector at the top of the workflow detail page
  • Tabs remember your last position when you navigate away
  • Use browser back button to return to previous tab

Recommended Workflow:

Initial Setup:

  1. Overview → Create workflow, add bindings
  2. Ownership → Verify RACI roles are set
  3. Controls → Document initial risk treatments
  4. Risk → Review generated risks
  5. Evidence → Check stability baseline

Quarterly Review:

  1. Evidence → Check stability score (should be ≥80%)
  2. Risk → Review risks with upcoming due dates
  3. Controls → Update treatments, add new evidence
  4. Overview → Verify bindings are current

Audit Preparation:

  1. Ownership → Verify RACI assignments
  2. Controls → Ensure all critical risks have evidence
  3. Evidence → Confirm high stability score
  4. Risk → Export risk treatment summary