Building a Minimal Governance Framework for Automated Decisions: A Practical Approach for Early-Stage Organizational Adoption

This article aims to explore the way in which a minimal framework of governance might be designed for organizations that start adopting systems based on artificial intelligence (AI). The article focuses on the operational principles which managers could introduce even in early stages, like functional transparency, a clear allocation of responsibilities, preliminary checks regarding algorithmic risks and a basic approval flow which must ensure the oversight of the decision-making process. These measures could support operational control on a daily basis and could help organizations to follow GDPR requirements without the implementation of complex systems. The analysis reflects the realities faced by small and medium-sized entities (SME), where limited technical expertise, lack of internal policies regarding intelligent technologies and the dependency of external suppliers influence implementation choices. This article underlines that a simplified managerial architecture with educational and oversight roles, may facilitate the transition to the automated decision-making process. This offers a practical starting point that organizations can later expand into governance mechanisms.