# Control Selection Guide

How to quickly identify the controls your AI system needs and consciously deselect the ones it does not.

## Overview

Not every AI system needs every control. Controls should be proportionate to the risk each use case creates, applied at the right time for the right purposes. This guide helps AI product owners select appropriate controls based on:

1. **Risk tier** - CRITICAL, HIGH, MEDIUM, LOW
2. **Use case type** - Customer-facing, internal, agentic, batch
3. **Data sensitivity** - PII, financial, regulated, public
4. **Decision impact** - Consequential, advisory, informational

## Step 1: Determine Risk Tier

### Risk Tier Decision Tree

![Risk Tier Decision Tree](../../images/control-selection-decision-tree.svg)

### Risk Tier Examples

| System | Tier | Rationale |
|--------|------|-----------|
| Credit decision support | CRITICAL | Directly affects lending decisions |
| Fraud detection AI | CRITICAL | False negatives allow fraud; false positives block customers |
| Trading signal generator | CRITICAL | Financial impact, regulatory scrutiny |
| Customer service chatbot | HIGH | Customer-facing, handles account queries |
| Document extraction (PII) | HIGH | Processes sensitive data at scale |
| Internal HR assistant | HIGH | Employment-related, PII |
| Meeting summariser | MEDIUM | Internal, limited sensitivity |
| Code assistant (internal) | MEDIUM | Internal productivity, no customer data |
| Marketing copy generator | MEDIUM | External-facing content, but reviewed |
| Sandbox experiments | LOW | No production data, no customer impact |
| Internal POC | LOW | Limited scope, controlled access |

## Step 2: Identify Use Case Characteristics

### Use Case Type Matrix

| Characteristic | Control Implications |
|----------------|---------------------|
| **Customer-facing** | Output guardrails critical; Judge sampling higher; HITL escalation paths |
| **Internal-only** | Can tolerate more latency; focus on data protection |
| **Agentic** | Full AG.1-AG.4 controls; circuit breakers mandatory |
| **Batch processing** | Can use heavier Judge evaluation; lower latency requirements |
| **Real-time** | Guardrail latency budget critical; async Judge only |
| **Decision support** | HITL mandatory for final decision; AI advisory only |
| **Fully automated** | Higher scrutiny; regulatory constraints (GDPR Art 22) |

### Data Sensitivity Matrix

| Data Type | Additional Controls |
|-----------|-------------------|
| **PII** | AI.5.3 Privacy, output PII filtering, data minimisation |
| **Financial** | AI.11 enhanced logging, AI.9 HITL for decisions |
| **Health** | HIPAA/regulatory compliance, AI.5.1 classification |
| **Credit** | SR 11-7 / SS1/23 model risk, AI.6.2 validation |
| **Authentication** | Never in AI context; AI.7.1 input filtering |
| **Regulated** | AI.13 vendor due diligence, AI.3.2 documentation |

## Step 3: Select Controls by Tier

### Control Selection Matrix

| Control | CRITICAL | HIGH | MEDIUM | LOW |
|---------|----------|------|--------|-----|
| **AI.1 Governance** | | | | |
| AI.1.1 Policy framework | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended |
| AI.1.2 Governance structure | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended | ○ Optional |
| AI.1.3 Accountability | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended |
| **AI.2 Risk Management** | | | | |
| AI.2.1 Risk classification | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required |
| AI.2.2 Risk assessment | Full assessment | Full assessment | Streamlined | Self-assessment |
| AI.2.3 Ongoing monitoring | Continuous | Continuous | Periodic | Spot checks |
| **AI.3 Inventory & Documentation** | | | | |
| AI.3.1 System inventory | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required |
| AI.3.2 System documentation | Comprehensive | Comprehensive | Standard | Basic |
| AI.3.3 Data lineage | Full | Full | Key flows | Basic |
| AI.3.4 Explainability | Full audit trail | Key factors | General approach | Basic |
| **AI.4 Development Security** | | | | |
| AI.4.1 Secure development | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended |
| AI.4.2 Testing | Statistical (≥50 runs) | Statistical (≥20 runs) | Statistical (≥10 runs) | Basic (≥5 runs) |
| AI.4.3 Pre-deployment review | Independent + committee | Security team | Streamlined | Self-assessment |
| **AI.5 Data Governance** | | | | |
| AI.5.1 Data classification | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended |
| AI.5.2 Data quality | Continuous validation | Continuous validation | Periodic validation | Basic checks |
| AI.5.3 Privacy protection | Full PIA, minimisation | PIA, minimisation | Standard handling | Basic |
| AI.5.4 RAG content integrity | Full validation | Full validation | Validation | Basic monitoring |
| **AI.6 Model Security** | | | | |
| AI.6.1 Model protection | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended |
| AI.6.2 Model validation | Independent (SR 11-7) | Internal validation | Functional testing | Basic testing |
| AI.6.3 Model monitoring | Continuous + trends | Continuous | Periodic | Basic |
| AI.6.4 Capability assessment | On every change | On every change | On major changes | Initial only |
| AI.6.5 Baseline comparison | Daily | Weekly | Fortnightly | Monthly |
| **AI.7 Guardrails** | | | | |
| AI.7.1 Input guardrails | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required |
| AI.7.2 Output guardrails | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended |
| AI.7.3 Guardrail maintenance | Monthly adversarial test | Quarterly | Biannually | Annually |
| AI.7.4 Context isolation | Dedicated instances | Strict isolation | Session isolation | Standard |
| **AI.8 LLM-as-Judge** | | | | |
| AI.8.1 Judge evaluation | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended |
| AI.8.2 Sampling strategy | 100% | 20-50% | 5-10% | 1-5% |
| AI.8.3 Finding management | 1-hour SLA (critical) | 24-hour SLA | 1-week SLA | Monthly batch |
| AI.8.4 Judge governance | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended | ○ Optional |
| AI.8.5 Confidence calibration | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended | ○ Optional |
| **AI.9 Human Oversight** | | | | |
| AI.9.1 HITL | All decisions | All escalations + sampling | Periodic + escalation | Spot checks |
| AI.9.2 Escalation procedures | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended |
| AI.9.3 Human override | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended |
| AI.9.4 Accountability | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required |
| AI.9.5 HITL effectiveness | Weekly canaries | Monthly canaries | Quarterly canaries | Biannual |
| **AI.10 Agentic Controls** | | | | |
| AI.10.1-10.6 | Full AG.1-AG.4 | Full AG.1-AG.4 | AG.2 + AG.3 | Basic AG.2 |
| **AI.11 Logging & Monitoring** | | | | |
| AI.11.1 Logging | Full, tamper-evident, 7yr | Full, 3yr | Metadata + sampled, 1yr | Basic, 90 days |
| AI.11.2 Real-time monitoring | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended |
| AI.11.3 Alerting | Immediate | Within 1 hour | Daily | Weekly |
| **AI.12 Incident Response** | | | | |
| AI.12.1 AI-specific playbooks | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended | ○ Optional |
| AI.12.2 Investigation capability | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended |
| AI.12.3 Remediation | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended |
| AI.12.4 Notification | Regulatory + customers | Regulatory | Internal | Basic |
| **AI.13 Supplier Management** | | | | |
| AI.13.1 Vendor assessment | Full + training data | Full | Standard | Basic |
| AI.13.2 Vendor agreements | Full AI terms | Full AI terms | Standard | Basic |
| AI.13.3 Model provenance | Full documentation | Full documentation | Standard | Basic |
| AI.13.4 Training data risk | Full assessment | Full assessment | Streamlined | Basic |
| **AI.14 Security Awareness** | | | | |
| AI.14.1 Training | All audiences + HITL bias | All audiences | Key personnel | Basic |
| **AI.15 Continuity** | | | | |
| AI.15.1 Continuity planning | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended | ○ Optional |
| AI.15.2 System resilience | Multi-region, failover | Failover | Graceful degradation | Basic |
| **AI.16 Intellectual Property** | | | | |
| AI.16.1 Model IP protection | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended | ○ Optional |
| AI.16.2 Third-party IP | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ✅ Required | ⚠️ Recommended |

## Step 4: Apply Use Case Modifiers

### Agentic AI Modifier

If your system is **agentic** (takes actions, not just generates content), add:

| Control | All Agentic Systems |
|---------|---------------------|
| AG.1.1 Plan disclosure | ✅ Required |
| AG.1.2 Plan guardrails | ✅ Required |
| AG.1.3 Plan approval | Based on tier |
| AG.2.1 Action guardrails | ✅ Required |
| AG.2.2 Circuit breakers | ✅ Required |
| AG.2.3 Scope enforcement | ✅ Required |
| AG.2.4 Tool controls | ✅ Required |
| AG.2.5 Tool protocol security | ✅ Required |
| AG.3.1 Trajectory logging | ✅ Required |
| AG.3.2 Trajectory evaluation | Based on tier |
| AG.3.3 Agentic HITL | Based on tier |
| AG.4.1 Agent inventory | ✅ Required |
| AG.4.2 Orchestration controls | If multi-agent |
| AG.4.3 Trace correlation | ✅ Required |

### Customer-Facing Modifier

If your system is **customer-facing**, add:

| Enhancement | Rationale |
|-------------|-----------|
| Increase Judge sampling by 1 tier | Higher reputational risk |
| Output guardrails mandatory | Customer protection |
| Escalation SLAs tightened | Customer impact |
| HITL queue prioritisation | Customer experience |
| Incident notification to customers | Regulatory requirement |

### Regulated Data Modifier

If your system handles **regulated data** (credit, health, financial):

| Enhancement | Rationale |
|-------------|-----------|
| Full AI.6.2 validation (SR 11-7 style) | Regulatory requirement |
| AI.3.4 Explainability at CRITICAL level | Right to explanation |
| AI.9.1 HITL mandatory for decisions | GDPR Art 22, fair lending |
| AI.11.1 Logging at CRITICAL level | Audit trail |
| AI.12.4 Regulatory notification | Reporting requirements |

### Batch Processing Modifier

If your system operates in **batch mode** (not real-time):

| Adjustment | Rationale |
|------------|-----------|
| Guardrail latency budget relaxed | No real-time requirement |
| Judge can evaluate 100% even at lower tiers | Processing time available |
| HITL can review before results released | Batch allows pre-release review |
| Rollback easier | Can reprocess batch |

## Step 5: Document Control Selection

For each AI system, document:

| Item | Content |
|------|---------|
| **System name** | Unique identifier |
| **Risk tier** | CRITICAL / HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW |
| **Tier rationale** | Why this tier was selected |
| **Use case type** | Customer-facing, internal, agentic, batch |
| **Data sensitivity** | PII, financial, regulated, public |
| **Decision impact** | Consequential, advisory, informational |
| **Modifiers applied** | Which modifiers and why |
| **Controls selected** | Full list with evidence requirements |
| **Controls deferred** | Any controls not implemented and rationale |
| **Review schedule** | When to reassess tier and controls |

## Common Patterns

### Pattern 1: Customer Service Chatbot

**Typical profile:**
- Tier: HIGH
- Type: Customer-facing, real-time
- Data: Account data (PII, financial)
- Decision: Advisory (human makes final decision)

**Control selection:**

| Control Area | Selection |
|--------------|-----------|
| Guardrails | Full input + output, <50ms budget |
| Judge | 20-50% sampling, 24hr SLA |
| HITL | Escalation path, not every interaction |
| Logging | Full content, 3-year retention |
| Agentic | Not applicable (reactive, not agentic) |

### Pattern 2: Credit Decision Support

**Typical profile:**
- Tier: CRITICAL
- Type: Internal, decision support
- Data: Credit data, PII
- Decision: Consequential (affects lending)

**Control selection:**

| Control Area | Selection |
|--------------|-----------|
| Guardrails | Full input + output + grounding verification |
| Judge | 100% sampling, 2hr SLA for critical findings |
| HITL | Human decides all - AI is advisory only |
| Logging | Full, tamper-evident, 7-year retention |
| Validation | Independent validation per SR 11-7 |
| Explainability | Full audit trail, decision rationale |

### Pattern 3: Internal Document Assistant

**Typical profile:**
- Tier: MEDIUM
- Type: Internal, real-time
- Data: Internal documents (some confidential)
- Decision: Informational

**Control selection:**

| Control Area | Selection |
|--------------|-----------|
| Guardrails | Standard input + output |
| Judge | 5-10% sampling, weekly SLA |
| HITL | Periodic review, standard escalation |
| Logging | Metadata + sampled content, 1-year retention |
| Agentic | Not applicable |

### Pattern 4: Agentic Research Assistant

**Typical profile:**
- Tier: HIGH (or CRITICAL if external actions)
- Type: Internal, agentic
- Data: Various (depends on tools)
- Decision: Advisory with autonomous actions

**Control selection:**

| Control Area | Selection |
|--------------|-----------|
| Guardrails | Full input + output + action guardrails |
| Judge | 20-50% trajectory evaluation |
| HITL | Plan approval for high-risk actions |
| Circuit breakers | Step limits, time limits, cost limits |
| Scope enforcement | Tool allowlist, data scope, outcome boundaries |
| Logging | Full trajectory, 3-year retention |

### Pattern 5: Sandbox/POC

**Typical profile:**
- Tier: LOW
- Type: Internal, experimental
- Data: Synthetic or public only
- Decision: None (experimentation)

**Control selection:**

| Control Area | Selection |
|--------------|-----------|
| Guardrails | Basic input validation |
| Judge | Spot checks only |
| HITL | Not required |
| Logging | Basic metadata, 90-day retention |
| Isolation | Separate from production |

## Review and Reassessment

### Triggers for Reassessment

| Trigger | Action |
|---------|--------|
| Use case scope expands | Reassess tier |
| New data types added | Reassess data sensitivity |
| Customer-facing deployment | Likely tier increase |
| Model upgrade | Capability assessment |
| Regulatory change | Control alignment review |
| Incident occurs | Post-incident control review |
| Annual review | Full reassessment |

### Review Schedule

| Tier | Full Reassessment | Control Verification |
|------|-------------------|---------------------|
| CRITICAL | Quarterly | Monthly |
| HIGH | Biannually | Quarterly |
| MEDIUM | Annually | Biannually |
| LOW | Annually | Annually |

## Checklist: Control Selection Process

| Step | Complete |
|------|----------|
| 1. System identified and named | ☐ |
| 2. Risk tier determined using decision tree | ☐ |
| 3. Tier rationale documented | ☐ |
| 4. Use case type identified | ☐ |
| 5. Data sensitivity assessed | ☐ |
| 6. Decision impact classified | ☐ |
| 7. Base controls selected from matrix | ☐ |
| 8. Modifiers applied (agentic, customer-facing, regulated, batch) | ☐ |
| 9. Control selection documented | ☐ |
| 10. Deferred controls justified | ☐ |
| 11. Review schedule established | ☐ |
| 12. Sign-off obtained | ☐ |

