---
id: "concept-delegation-map"
type: "concept"
source_timestamps: ["§ Implications for Leaders"]
tags: ["product-architecture", "workflow-design"]
related: ["action-create-delegation-map", "concept-transaction-grade-governance"]
definition: "A strategic blueprint defining which parts of a customer workflow are automated by an agent, which require human intervention, and where checkpoints exist."
sources: ["geo"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-geo"
originDay: 3
articleStem: "hbr-ext-15-china-ai-agents-commerce"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/04/research-what-chinas-ai-agents-reveal-about-the-future-of-commerce"
sourceTitle: "Research: What China’s AI Agents Reveal About the Future of Commerce"
---
# Delegation Map

## Definition
A delegation map is a strategic design tool used to architect how an AI agent interacts with a customer workflow. It explicitly defines:
- which decisions can move to **autopilot** (fully delegated to the agent),
- which decisions must stay **human** (requiring explicit user input or approval),
- where **non-negotiable checkpoints** must be placed.

## Product architecture, not IT feature
Treating delegation as **product architecture** rather than an IT feature lets a company proactively shape demand, manage risk exposure, and optimize unit economics. The governance rails that make those checkpoints enforceable come from [[concept-transaction-grade-governance]].

## The default-setting risk
The cost of not drawing this map is stark, per [[quote-designing-defaults]]: *"If you don't design this architecture, someone else's agent will define the defaults on your behalf."* Ceding the map means third-party agents ([[entity-doubao]], [[entity-qwen-d3]], [[entity-xiaomei]]) define default behaviors for you.

This is the second strategic move in [[framework-strategic-implications-leaders]] and is operationalized by [[action-create-delegation-map]].

> Enrichment: broader AI-governance literature frames the delegation map as a **workflow-control problem** — permissions, escalation thresholds, and reversibility — rather than merely a UX problem.