AI Spend Governance Checklist
Governance is the org layer on top of the firewall. This checklist covers the whole program.
The checklist
1. Policy: written spend policy with owners?
2. Defaults: do new agents inherit caps and allowlists?
3. Approvals: who reviews FLAGGED transactions, how fast?
4. Vendors: is there an allowlist process with due diligence?
5. Audit: is every decision logged and reviewable?
6. Review: is there a monthly spend review with rule tuning?
7. Incidents: does every runaway produce a report and a rule?
8. Education: do teams know the policy?
FAQ
What's the first item to implement?
Defaults — they cover the ungoverned gap between deploy and policy.
How often should the program be reviewed?
Monthly for spend and rules; quarterly for the policy itself.
Related
Stop the next $12,400 night.
One API call (or MCP tool) in front of every agent transaction — APPROVED, BLOCKED, or FLAGGED, deterministic, ~5 ms, fully logged.
See plans — from $99/mo Try a live check