Decision record
A written artifact, whether a filled-in weighted decision matrix, a short rationale paragraph, or both, that captures the options considered, the constraints weighed, and the reasoning behind a design decision, so the decision can be reviewed, defended, and revisited by someone other than the person who made it.
Defined in 5 GAGE programs, which carry 5 distinct definitions of it. The wording above is taught in Engineering Judgment and Professional Formation.
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.
A written artifact, whether a filled-in weighted decision matrix, a short rationale paragraph, or both, that captures the options considered, the constraints weighed, and the reasoning behind a design decision, so the decision can be reviewed, defended, and revisited by someone other than the person who made it.
The written artifact documenting a recall decision: the finding, the contamination boundary, the severity assessment, the pattern assessment, the option chosen, the reasons the other options were rejected, and the review trigger. The first entry in an organization's incident log.
A short, dated, one-page artifact stating a real question, its owner, its stake and failure mode, its defending standard, the decision itself, and the sentence you would say to a skeptic. The first entry in the program dossier and the concrete output of this topic's lab.
What an enforcing rule emits: the rule identifier and version, the inputs, the decision, the requirement identifier, and any exception applied. A rule that enforces and emits nothing has moved the control beyond the reach of assurance.
The complete, documented artifact this topic teaches you to produce for any test result: metric and threshold with a date, actual result with rigor metadata, decision, signer and standing (if accepted), and re-evaluation trigger.
Where it is taught
The exact lessons this term appears in. The first module of every program is free with a free account.
- Pass, Fail, or Accept · Testing and Red-Teaming, Certified Agentic AI Governance Professional (CAAGP)
- The wrong data fed the model: the recall decision for an AI system in production · Data Incidents, Certified AI Data Governance Professional (CADGP)
- Why decisions, not information, will make you the expert · Taking Command, Certified AI Governance Professional (CAIGP)
- Policy-as-code and AI-assisted policy work · Policy, Standards, Procedures, and Exceptions, Certified Enterprise Governance, Risk and Compliance Professional (CEGP)
- Making the right tradeoffs under real constraints · Engineering Thinking and Elegant Minimalism, Engineering Judgment and Professional Formation
Where it shows up at work
A definition is where Decision record 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.
Writes policies with scope, responsibilities, requirements, exceptions and evidence, so people can follow them and auditors can test them.
One lesson on this page teach it as a primary outcome.
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.
Knows the rules on automated employment decisions, bias audits and notices, and treats hiring AI as the highest-risk use case it is.
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.
- Chief Compliance Officer, AI compliance editionneeds it at depth
- AI Governance Managerneeds it at depth
- Ethical AI Specialistneeds working knowledge · 5 open postings this week
- Chief Information Security Officer, AI security focusneeds it at depth
- AI Incident Response Leadneeds it at depth · 1 open posting this week
- Responsible AI Leadneeds working knowledge · 7 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: ISO/IEC 42001 Clause 5.2; NIST AI RMF GOVERN 1; EU AI Act Article 73; ISO/IEC 42001 Annex A incident controls.
One interview question about it
Show me how you turn a principle like human oversight into a policy clause an engineer can implement and an auditor can test.
Asked of candidates for ai policy and standards writing. 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.
- Compliance and regulatory affairs carries it as a claim to back up: Policy drafting is usually in the role, described rather than shown.
- Nonprofit program and grants oversight carries it as a claim to back up: Acceptable-use and program policy drafting is common.
- Cybersecurity and IT carries it as work you can show: Incident playbooks and post-incident reviews are your artifacts.
Terms it appears with
Not an alphabetical neighbourhood: these are the terms taught in the same lessons, ranked by how often they appear together.