Runtime Control Architecture

Agentic AI needs a control plane.
ACR defines it and ships one.

Policies and review boards do not control agentic systems at execution time. ACR provides six operational control pillars enforced at runtime, plus a live control plane implementation with governed baseline evolution, intent-aware telemetry, protected executors, and orchestrator enforcement patterns.

Why existing governance fails

Agentic AI changed the control problem.

Traditional governance assumed bounded software, predictable execution, and periodic oversight. Agentic AI systems reason across steps, invoke APIs, access sensitive context, alter state, and create downstream impact at machine speed. Control must move from policy documents to runtime architecture and enforced trust paths.

Speed asymmetry

Agents act faster than humans review.

Bypass risk

If tools are reachable directly, governance is theater.

Post-hoc is too late

You need a hard stop before sensitive execution.

The enforcement boundary

The control plane is the mandatory trust path.

Every agent action must traverse the ACR control plane before reaching execution. Identity is verified, policy is evaluated, drift is scored, and evidence is emitted — at runtime, before impact.

Orchestration
Workflow engine
Agent (LLM)

Agent decides to act. Emits a tool call request.

ACR Control Plane
P1 Identity & purpose verification
P2 Behavioral policy evaluation
P3 Drift baseline comparison
P4 Evidence bundle emission
P5 Kill switch armed
Protected execution
Sandboxed executor
MCP server
External API

Isolated. Rollback-ready. Blast radius contained.

Human authority
Operator console

P6 Approval queue for high-impact actions. Escalation SLAs enforced.

Observability
Audit log & SIEM

P4 Append-only. Chain-of-custody. Evidence bundles per action.

If agents can reach tools without traversing the control plane, governance is theater.

The ACR control plane is not optional middleware. It is the mandatory enforcement boundary between intent and impact.

Six Control Pillars

Operational controls, not just principles.

Each pillar defines control objectives, enforcement mechanisms, evidence requirements, and test procedures. Mapped to ISO 27001, NIST CSF 2.0, ISO/IEC 42001, NIST AI RMF, and MITRE ATLAS.

1

Identity & Purpose Binding

Every agent attributable to a unique identity, bound to approved purpose, owner, and scope.

2

Behavioral Policy Enforcement

Runtime guardrails constraining tools, parameters, spend limits, approval gates, and execution trust paths.

3

Autonomy Drift Detection

Versioned behavioral baselines with approval workflows, drift scoring, and controlled promotion of a new normal.

4

Execution Observability

Structured traces, append-only audit logs, evidence bundles, and intent-aware telemetry before sensitive execution.

5

Self-Healing & Containment

Kill switches, sandboxing, safe-state recovery, and blast radius reduction through isolated executors.

6

Human Authority

Action tiering, approval queues, escalation SLAs, and operator-governed promotion of high-impact changes.

ACR Ecosystem

One specification. One control plane. One threat model.

Start Here

Where to go next depends on what you do.

Security & Architecture

Define control requirements

Runtime control architecture, trust boundaries, failure modes, and implementation patterns for agentic AI systems.

View Architecture →

GRC & Compliance

Map to your frameworks

42 control mappings across ISO 27001, NIST CSF 2.0, ISO/IEC 42001, NIST AI RMF, and MITRE ATLAS.

Explore Standards Crosswalk →

Engineering & Platform

Run the control plane

Deploy ACR as the mandatory enforcement layer for sensitive actions. Route orchestrators through protected executors, evaluate actions, inspect trust paths, and export evidence bundles.

View Control Plane →

Every ACR control maps to established frameworks.

42 control mappings. 5 standards. 100% pillar coverage.

ISO 27001 NIST CSF 2.0 ISO/IEC 42001 NIST AI RMF MITRE ATLAS

Start with the white paper. Build with the control plane.

The foundational paper explains the runtime control model. The live implementation shows how governed drift baselines, intent-aware telemetry, operator workflows, and protected execution work in practice.

Stay informed.

Framework releases, implementation guides, and community events.