Stop letting AI agents click the expensive buttons

Short summary

Small businesses should use AI agents for research and drafting, but require human approval before expensive actions like refunds or publishing. Design approval gates around specific tool categories: read-only (always safe), drafts (safe if reviewed), state changes (case-by-case), and expensive buttons (always approve). Use frameworks like MCP and workflow tools to implement tiered permissions where agents can prepare, recommend, and explain—but humans make final irreversible decisions.

• •AI agents should research and draft autonomously, but require human approval for expensive actions (refunds, publishing, pricing changes)
• •Categorize tools into 4 risk buckets: read-only, drafts, state changes, expensive buttons—and require approval only for high-risk operations
• •Implement approval gates with MCP and workflow tools, providing agents with clear authorization policies via YAML or database configs

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.