Rate limit
An enforced budget on the most actions of a given kind an agent may take per unit of time (messages per minute, orders per hour, records modified per run). It converts a wrong action from an unbounded flood into a single, catchable event, and is the control the Knight Capital unbounded-order loss lacked (see Topic 3.5).
Defined in 2 GAGE programs, which carry 2 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.
An enforced budget on the most actions of a given kind an agent may take per unit of time (messages per minute, orders per hour, records modified per run). It converts a wrong action from an unbounded flood into a single, catchable event, and is the control the Knight Capital unbounded-order loss lacked (see Topic 3.5).
A runtime control that caps how many times a given action (typically a tool call) can occur within a defined window, catching abnormal frequency regardless of whether any single instance of the action looked dangerous on its own. One of the MGF's own two named examples of a runtime control (MGF p.34).
Where it is taught
The exact lessons this term appears in. The first module of every program is free with a free account.
- The Control Typology · Technical Controls and Threat Modeling, Certified Agentic AI Governance Professional (CAAGP)
- Permissioning an agent: tools, budgets, and the actions it may never take alone · Agents Under Command, Certified AI Governance Professional (CAIGP)
Where it shows up at work
A definition is where Rate limit 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.
Governs AI agents that take actions: tool access, least privilege, interruptibility, cascading actions and accountability for what an agent did.
One lesson on this page teach it as a primary outcome.
Understands prompt injection, data poisoning, model theft, insecure integrations and excessive agent privileges, and the controls that reduce each.
One lesson on this page teach it as a primary outcome.
Designs multi step agent systems: orchestration graphs, tool contracts, memory, interruptibility, and the evaluation of agent behavior before it is allowed to act.
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 Information Security Officer, AI security focusneeds it at depth
- AI Security Architectneeds it at depth · 8 open postings this week
- Chief Technology Officer, AI engineering editionneeds it at depth
- AI Governance Engineerneeds it at depth · 7 open postings this week
- Agentic AI Engineer, orchestration editionneeds it at depth
- AI Evaluation Specialistneeds working knowledge · 6 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: IMDA Model AI Governance Framework for Agentic AI; NIST AI RMF; OWASP Top 10 for LLM Applications; Google SAIF.
One interview question about it
An agent can send emails and update records. What may it touch, what needs a human, and how do you prove afterwards what it did?
Asked of candidates for agentic ai controls and authorization boundaries. 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 a claim to back up: Threat modeling and control design transfer; the AI-specific threats are new.
- A computer science or software engineering degree carries it as a claim to back up: Security fundamentals are a course you took, not yet a control you ran.
- A cybersecurity or information assurance degree carries it as work you can show: Security fundamentals are your coursework and your labs.
Terms it appears with
Not an alphabetical neighbourhood: these are the terms taught in the same lessons, ranked by how often they appear together.