--- title: "How to map who does what before adding AI" description: "Map task owners, source owners, reviewers, and handoffs before adding AI. Use a responsibility table to define where each function starts and stops." canonical: "https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/map-who-does-what-before-ai" --- ## Site navigation - [Scale With Search](https://scalewithsearch.com/) - Services - Services - [AI systems](https://scalewithsearch.com/ai-systems) - [Site build](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#site-build) - [Whole website fix](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#whole-website-fix) - [Content library with SEO](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#content-library) - [Working session](https://scalewithsearch.com/audit) - Start here - [Send your brief](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#send-your-brief) - [Example scope](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#review-the-example-scope) - [Prices and terms](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#prices-and-terms) - Industries - Real estate - [Real estate agents and teams](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate) - [Platforms, ownership, and IDX](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-website-platforms-ownership-idx) - [Search, content, and AI](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-search-content-ai) - [Inquiries, campaigns, and handoffs](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-website-inquiries-campaigns-handoffs) - [Buyer, seller, and local pages](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-buyer-seller-local-resources) - [Rules, privacy, and trust](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate/real-estate-website-rules-privacy-trust) - Browse by business - [Trades and home services](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-trades) - [Health, wellness, and animal care](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-practices) - [Law, finance, and IT](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-professional) - [Marketing and SEO agencies](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-agencies) - [Shops and manufacturers](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-manufacturing) - [Restaurants, shops, studios, and nonprofits](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/#group-local-services) - Chiropractic practices - [Chiropractic and wellness practices](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/chiropractic-and-wellness-practices) - [Chiropractic and physical therapy clinics](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/chiropractic-and-physical-therapy-clinics) - [All industries](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/) - Resources - Free tools - [AI readiness check](https://scalewithsearch.com/check) - [Free tools](https://scalewithsearch.com/tools/) - [Free Starter Kit](https://scalewithsearch.com/kit/business-memory-starter-kit.zip) - Guides - [AI-native library](https://scalewithsearch.com/ai-native) - [Industry intelligence](https://scalewithsearch.com/intelligence) - [Office job guides](https://scalewithsearch.com/guides/) - [Business memory](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/business-memory-for-ai-agents-guide) - [Agent governance](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/ai-agent-governance-guide-small-business) - [Migration and ownership](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/leaving-vendor-ai-memory-guide) - Articles - [All articles](https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/) - [What changed](https://scalewithsearch.com/changes/) - About - Evidence - [Proof](https://scalewithsearch.com/proof) - Scale With Search - [About](https://scalewithsearch.com/about) - [How it works](https://scalewithsearch.com/how-it-works) # How to map who does what before adding AI Map who does what by following a real job through its tasks and handoffs. For every step, name who performs it, who owns its source information, who checks the result, and who authorizes the next action. Keep the map at task level. A company chart describes positions. This map describes the work that moves between them. It should show where an AI function could prepare something and where a person must decide or act. Start with the current process. Use roles in the public-facing version and maintain current assignments in the private business record. Confirm the map with the people who perform and receive the work. ## Start with a finished job and follow it backward Choose a recent result someone accepted. Find the input that started it and the record of each handoff. Ask participants to show where they contributed, what they received, and what they passed on. Write a separate row for each meaningful output. If a coordinator assembles a packet and a manager approves it, record both steps. If someone sends the approved packet, give that action a row too. Record the actual path even when it differs from the written procedure. Mark the difference for resolution. Do not silently substitute the intended process for the one you observed. Use a difficult case as a second walkthrough. Look for changed owners, missing inputs, extra reviews, and decisions that stopped the ordinary path. Keep the evidence beside the map. ## Separate four responsibilities For this worksheet, use four responsibilities: performing the task, maintaining its source record, reviewing the output, and authorizing the next action. These labels are a practical recommendation, not a required management standard. One person may hold several responsibilities. Write each responsibility separately anyway. The owner of a small firm might prepare a draft, check its facts, and send it. Those remain different actions with different checks. The [NIST Govern playbook](https://airc.nist.gov/airmf-resources/playbook/govern/) recommends clear responsibilities and lines of communication. It also distinguishes roles in using AI systems from roles in oversight. Source checked October 26, 2026. Use [the agent approval matrix](/articles/ai-agent-approval-matrix) for the later authorization design. This map establishes the current human responsibilities that design must respect. ## Name the person who owns the source For each task input, identify who can confirm that it is current. That might be a service manager for approved job status or the owner for service terms. Record the canonical location and the rule for changes. Do not assume that the person who uploads a document owns its contents. Ask who can resolve a conflict between versions. Name a backup when the responsible person is unavailable. If no source owner exists, mark the input unresolved. A proposed AI function should not choose company policy by selecting whichever file appears most convenient. Use [the business memory guide](/articles/business-memory-for-ai-agents-guide) when organizing the source rules and accepted corrections. Keep the responsibility map with that record. Keep the change process visible. State who can propose a correction, who accepts it, and how the revised source becomes available to future work. Preserve a dated record of the decision. ## Define the handoff as a condition A handoff needs more than “send to the manager.” State what the receiving person must have before they can proceed. Include the artifact, status, evidence, and open questions. For example: “The coordinator places the draft and source list in the review folder. The manager reviews only drafts marked ready. Missing status records remain in a separate hold list.” Ask the receiving person to confirm that this packet is sufficient. If they still reconstruct the history, add the missing information or revise the task boundary. Name the condition that closes the handoff. That could be an accepted review status or a recorded decision. Define where rejected work returns and who handles the repair. Keep completion and rejection distinguishable. ## Map the exception route Ask what happens when the normal owner is absent, records conflict, a customer changes the request, or the required review cannot happen. Record the next responsible person and the condition for stopping. Do not send every exception to the owner by default. Ask who has authority and context for each kind of issue. Confirm that assignment with the person receiving it. Keep a visible unresolved state for cases that have no authorized path. Name who will design the missing route. A blank cell should remain a finding until someone accepts responsibility. Avoid using AI as the fallback owner. The system can list the missing decision and gather evidence. A person must still own the decision to continue, change scope, or abandon the task. ## Put the current responsibilities in one table This fictional example maps preparation of a customer status update. It illustrates the format and makes no claim about a real firm's process. | Step | Performs work | Owns source | Reviews result | Authorizes next action | |---|---|---|---|---| | Gather approved job statuses | Coordinator | Delivery manager | Coordinator checks completeness | Coordinator marks packet ready | | Resolve conflicting statuses | Delivery manager | Delivery manager | Manager verifies the evidence | Manager records the current status | | Prepare customer update | Coordinator | Manager owns approved facts | Account owner | Account owner approves final wording | | Send approved update | Authorized sender | Account owner owns destination record | Sender checks recipient and version | Named approver under company rules | Keep the private assignment list beside the table. Put the backup, escalation path, and source locations there. Do not put credentials or unnecessary customer details in the map. ## Add the proposed AI role in a separate pass Copy the current table into a proposed-process section. Change only the steps the function would perform. Preserve the human responsibilities around those steps unless the business explicitly changes them. In the fictional example, a function might gather approved records and prepare a draft. The manager still resolves conflicting facts. The account owner still checks the wording. The authorized sender still carries out the approved send. Write the system's stopping point in the table. “Draft saved for review” is observable. “Communication handled” conceals several different responsibilities. Use [the guide to giving an agent a job, sources, and stopping point](/articles/give-every-agent-a-job-sources-and-stopping-point) when converting the proposed row into a function brief. ## Check access against responsibility List the records each proposed step needs to read. Separately list the destinations it may write. Keep external actions distinct from internal preparation. Ask whether each permission is necessary for the written task. A function preparing a draft does not need the authority to send it. A function reading approved records should not receive general permission to change those records. For firms working across clients, maintain a separate map and access boundary for each client. Identify the client-side source owner and approver. Keep one client's material out of another client's input set. Require a receipt that records what the function read and produced. The responsible person should be able to trace a draft back to the allowed source set. ## Rehearse the map before building Give participants a saved example and ask them to follow the proposed handoffs without extra explanations. Include an ordinary case and a case that must stop. Ask who receives the output, who checks it, what proves approval, and where a correction goes. Resolve conflicting answers before implementation. Keep any unresolved issue as a blocked item with an owner. Then rehearse absence. Ask the backup to follow the same written map. Update the instructions when they depend on private knowledge. The map is ready when the team can explain the path and its limits. ## Keep the map with the working function Store the accepted current map, proposed map, assignments, and source locations in the business-owned record. Review affected rows when a role, source, service, or approval rule changes. The [AI systems method](/ai-systems) connects those responsibilities to study, sorting, building, and training. To scope a first function, [send the recurring job and who currently checks it](/work). ## Related: Ownership and Migration - [An AI Agent Approval Matrix for Small Teams](/articles/ai-agent-approval-matrix) - [The Complete Guide to Business Memory for AI Agents](/articles/business-memory-for-ai-agents-guide) - [Give Every Agent a Job, Sources, and Stopping Point](/articles/give-every-agent-a-job-sources-and-stopping-point) ---- ```text .|########||. .|########||. .|########||. |##||. .||##|. |##||. .||##|. |##||. .||##|. |#|. .|#|. |#|. .|#|. |#|. .|#|. |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#. .#| .#. .#| .#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| .# ||#########| #| .# ||#########| #| .# ||#########| #| .#. |######||######|. .#. .#. |######||######|. .#. .#. |######||######|. .#. #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# # .||####|###########################|. # # .||####|###########################|. # # .||####|###########################|. # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || #. .######|#|#########| .# #. .######|#|#########| .# #. .######|#|#########| .# .#. |#####||||#####| .#. .#. |#####||||#####| .#. .#. |#####||||#####| .#. |# ||########|| #. |# ||########|| #. |# ||########|| #. |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#. |#. .#. |#. .#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. |##||. .||##| |##||. .||##| |##||. .||##| .||########||. .||########||. .||########||. 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