Architecture initiative · July 2026 · 2 slides

From code scarcity to controlled execution

AI makes software abundant. Our differentiator becomes letting more software exist safely — verified, narrowly permissioned, observable, retired on time.

Software is becoming abundant

AI tools raise the flow of apps, scripts and connectors — from more people, with less continuous human attention.

Evidence: +5.9% project contributions with AI assistance · task delegation to AI up 27→39% in 8 months

The bottleneck has moved

Writing code is no longer the scarce step. Reviewing, authorizing, integrating, operating and retiring it is — and it absorbs the gains if we do nothing.

Evidence: coordination time +8% alongside higher output; DORA: AI amplifies the surrounding system

The risk is already in the building

Every unmanaged tool carries credentials, data paths and no owner. Blocking creation drives shadow IT; ignoring it grows unmanaged production.

Author identity is a poor trust signal — the same admission model must apply to human and AI code

The proposal — one rule, one path

Code may request capabilities. Only policy grants them.

Verified build→ Risk-based admission→ Workload identity→ Governed data access→ Owned operations

✕Not another AI platform — the code generator can change; the control plane doesn't

✕Not security reviewing every small app manually

✕Not a shared database account for citizen developers

Speed and control: friction follows the risk of the request, not the size of the app. L0 fastL1 fastL2 automatedL3 governedL4 hard

Slide 2 · Making a start

First steps — no budget, existing means, 90 days

Nothing below needs a platform program. Each step uses tools and people we already have — and produces the evidence for a real Phase-2 decision.

Weeks 1–2

See the estate

Inventory AI-built tools, scripts and connectors already running; flag standing credentials and ownerless apps. Existing scanning/CMDB tooling.

Cost: analyst time

Week 2

Publish the rule

One-page policy, effective immediately: no embedded production credentials; every new tool declares an owner and a purpose. Applies to human and AI code alike.

Cost: a memo

Week 2

Name the owners

Part-time roles from existing teams: platform (golden path), identity (authorization), data products, security/risk. No new hires — named accountability.

Cost: role clarity

Weeks 3–8

One golden path

Reuse an existing runtime (a Kubernetes namespace, our CI/CD) as the single sanctioned path for one narrow app class — synthetic or low-sensitivity data only.

Cost: configuration, not procurement

Weeks 3–8

Manifest light

Add a capability manifest (owner, purpose, data connections, egress, export) to the repo template. Reviewed in the existing change process — metadata before machinery.

Cost: a YAML template

From week 4

Report two numbers

Lead time to safe production on the golden path, and count of apps with standing human-managed secrets. Monthly, to this audience.

Cost: a dashboard query

The ask today: agreement on the rule and the pilot — no budget. In 90 days we return with the two numbers and a fact-based decision: continue as-is, or fund Phase 2 (capability manifests & automated risk-tier admission). controlled-execution.häh.ch