Audit trail
The record of every action an agent takes (see Topic 7.4), which containment must protect; the reason isolate outranks kill when the harm allows, and the reason you never wipe an agent to "clean up."
Defined in 4 GAGE programs, which carry 4 distinct definitions of it. The wording above is taught in Certified AI Governance Professional (CAIGP).
How each discipline defines it
The same term does different work depending on who is using it. These are the definitions as each program teaches them, unedited.
The record of every action an agent takes (see Topic 7.4), which containment must protect; the reason isolate outranks kill when the harm allows, and the reason you never wipe an agent to "clean up."
The timestamped, tamper-evident record of what an AI system did and what humans did about it. Its core job in a regulated setting is to prove meaningful human oversight of decisions that require it.
The complete, time-stamped record of who accessed a system, when, and what they did, which for break-glass access must capture the trigger justification alongside the technical log.
The record of a record's life cycle, capturing who, what, when and why, without obscuring or overwriting the original. A trail users can amend or disable is not a trail.
Where it is taught
The exact lessons this term appears in. The first module of every program is free with a free account.
- Break-glass access: emergencies without permanent holes · Access and the Keys, Certified AI Data Governance Professional (CADGP)
- The runaway afternoon: your agent misbehaves in a loop, contain it live · Agents Under Command, Certified AI Governance Professional (CAIGP)
- Building the Audit-Ready AI Program · Lab: Regulated Industries, Certified AI Transformation Professional (CATP)
- Workflow engineering · Governance, Risk and Compliance Technology, Automation, and Evidence Engineering, Certified Enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance Professional (CEGP)
Where it shows up at work
A definition is where Audit trail starts. The lessons above teach it inside the competencies below, which are what job descriptions ask for and what the GAGE credential records. Every link here is drawn from the same careers map that builds a role's readiness check.
Classifies AI incidents by severity, runs containment, preserves evidence, manages notification, and closes the loop with lessons learned.
One lesson on this page teach it as a primary outcome.
Collects, labels and preserves the evidence that a control operated, a decision was made, and a claim can be defended to an auditor or regulator.
One lesson on this page teach it as a primary outcome.
Tiers vendors by use and impact, requests evidence instead of promises, tests in the customer's context, and plans monitoring and exit.
One lesson on this page teach it as a primary outcome.
Roles that hire for it
Each role page shows the full competency set, what the seat decides, and a readiness check against your own evidence.
- AI Incident Response Leadneeds it at depth · 1 open posting this week
- Chief Information Security Officer, AI security focusneeds it at depth
- AI Auditorneeds it at depth · 9 open postings this week
- Chief Audit Executive, AI audit editionneeds it at depth
- Chief Risk Officer, AI risk editionneeds working knowledge
- AI Security Architectneeds working knowledge · 8 open postings this week
How job descriptions say it
Postings rarely use the textbook word. These are the phrases the careers map reads as asking for the competencies above.
Where the frameworks place it: EU AI Act Article 73; ISO/IEC 42001 Annex A incident controls; NIST AI RMF MANAGE 4; EU AI Act Articles 11 and 12.
One interview question about it
An AI system has just caused harm to a customer. Walk me through the first 48 hours.
Asked of candidates for ai incident response and recovery. Answering it in your own words is exactly how a GAGE topic is passed, and the credential records the pass where an employer can check it.
If you come from another field
Some backgrounds already carry this competency, and the readiness check gives credit for it.
- Cybersecurity and IT carries it as work you can show: Incident playbooks and post-incident reviews are your artifacts.
- A cybersecurity or information assurance degree carries it as a claim to back up: Incident response is a course; AI incidents add model failure to the playbook.
- Compliance and regulatory affairs carries it as work you can show: Audit-ready documentation is what you produce.
Terms it appears with
Not an alphabetical neighbourhood: these are the terms taught in the same lessons, ranked by how often they appear together.