SHORT DEFINITION
The layered governance model that aligns agent intent from board-level policy down to runtime behavioral controls — making accountability traceable at every layer.
The Intent Architecture Stack is the layered governance model that aligns AI agent intent from board-level policy down to runtime behavioral controls, making accountability traceable at every layer of the enterprise. It is the structured answer to the Accountability Assumption: by defining who owns each layer of agent governance — policy, design, access, behavior, audit — the stack eliminates the organizational condition where every team believes someone else is responsible. The stack does not describe technology. It describes the human accountability structure that technology must be configured to enforce.
CANONICAL EXAMPLE
A financial services firm implements the Intent Architecture Stack across its Microsoft agent deployment: the board approves the AI risk tolerance policy, the CISO owns the agent registry and access governance layer, enterprise architects own the intent design layer for each agent, security operations owns the runtime behavioral monitoring layer, and internal audit owns the review cycle. When an agent drifts, the stack identifies the accountable owner at the layer where the gap occurred — no Accountability Assumption is possible.
USAGE GUIDANCE FOR CONTENT
Use Intent Architecture Stack in framework documents, long-form newsletter editions, and posts that move from problem to structured solution. It is the most complete term in the vocabulary — use it when the audience is ready for a full governance model, not just a named problem. It is most effective paired with a visual or a layered description that makes each accountability layer concrete. Mark as evolving until a formal framework document is published.