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Layer 03

Autonomous Engine
acts autonomously

Autonomous Engine is ABN's third layer — where the process graph turns into action. Every agent follows the OPERA loop exactly, in order, and always proposes before it acts.

The OPERA loop

Seven phases — in order, every time

O

O — Observe

Read data via the adapters; compute data confidence. Below 0.60 → flag, continue with a warning.

P

P — Plan

Pattern-match first — a predefined plan on a hit. Otherwise the LLM plans, but only on abstract structure — not raw values.

E

E — Execute

Runs only registered capabilities. Safe read and analysis steps retry on failure (up to 2) with a per-step timeout; an external write is never retried automatically — a failed write goes to a person to decide.

R

R — Reason

The LLM interprets the findings — statistics and counts only, max 200 tokens, a strictly bounded prompt.

A

A — Act

Build the structured output and enforce Culture Rules — impact quantified in EUR, exactly one recommendation. Nothing is delivered yet.

V

V — Verify

A fail-closed gate before anything ships: the Dual-Brain Critic and End-State Evaluator review the output, and RAL proves every critical value against its source. Unproven or unsafe output is blocked, never delivered.

D

D — Deliver

Only verified output is delivered per tier — READ_ONLY auto-delivered, PROPOSE_CHANGE queued for a named approver — a verified report produced for your review and every step logged.

The Reason phase receives statistics — counts, trends, thresholds — not raw amounts or names. This is ABN's No-Data design: raw operational data is not sent to the prompt during normal operation.

Blueprint Generator

Every agent is unique per (customer × process)

ABN is not a catalogue of fixed agents. Blueprint Generator creates a signed, unique blueprint for every process discovered — calibrated to your industry and your own baselines.

A

DNA Phase

Read process graphs, detect the industry, and compute your own baselines — your actual deviation level, not a generic industry default.

B

Genesis prompt

The LLM receives only abstract structure + your terminology + your baseline. Generates the agent name, goals and a recommendation template — not raw values.

C

Validation + HMAC

AVM reviews against industry rules. Culture Rules force a EUR figure and one recommendation. Then HMAC signing. The blueprint is locked.

Agent archetypes

Four active archetypes in V1

MONITOR

Monitors thresholds and alerts. No analysis — just "is this over the limit?". Fastest and cheapest.

ANALYZER

Looks for deviations between sources. RAL-attests every finding and quantifies the impact in EUR.

PLANNER

Proposes schedule changes and actions. Generates proposals — never decisions, always for approval.

COORDINATOR

Orchestrates multiple agents via the Case object with scope protection. Born only when there are ≥ 3 independent sub-tasks.

EXECUTOR is a fifth archetype that exists in the code but is locked until V2 — gated by a separate release decision and future approval, policy and security controls.

Never without your approval

The human has the final say — always.

Tiers are hardcoded in the Commitment Gate. Nothing can break past them — not even an LLM that hallucinates confidence.

Tier 1 · READ_ONLY

Auto-delivery

Read-only, no impact. Delivered automatically at high confidence.

Tier 2 · PROPOSE_CHANGE

Proposes — you approve

Saves the proposal to the queue. A named employee must approve before anything happens.

Tier 3 · EXECUTE_CHANGE

Locked in V1

Direct writes to source systems. Off until the required approval, policy and security controls are in place and you actively enable it.