The Decision Debt

There's a new kind of debt showing up in organizations, and it's not technical.

I call it the decision debt.

It starts quietly.

An AI system gets introduced to summarize, recommend, approve, or automate a decision.

The workflow works. And the numbers look good.

Then, over time, fewer people remember why the system makes the decision, what assumptions it uses, or who is even accountable when it gets it wrong.

And unlike technical debt, you may not notice it until the cost of fixing it becomes much higher.

Every AI-enabled decision should have four things clearly defined:

- Assumptions: What is the system relying on?

- Escalation: When does a human need to step in?

- Ownership: Who is accountable for the outcome?

- Review: How do we know the decision still makes sense as the business changes?

AI doesn't create decision debt because it makes decisions.

It creates it when organizations delegate decisions FASTER than they define accountability around them.

So as AI becomes more embedded in business processes, decision debt is a risk worth naming.

What is decision debt you are carrying?