10PRODUCT STRATEGY

Product Principles & Trust Model

Never trust an agent because of where it runs; trust only verified identity, explicit authority, current context and policy.

Priority: P0
Phase: Foundation
Primary owner: Product / Security
Status: Blueprint

Objective

The trust model must be explicit because Agent Trust Cloud will sit in a privileged position. Customers should trust the system because it minimizes implicit trust, makes decisions explainable, separates duties and provides verifiable evidence—not because it claims that another AI model will keep their AI safe.

What to build

Identity before access: an agent must be attributable before privileged actions are allowed.
Least privilege by default: grant only tools, actions, data scopes and time windows required for the task.
Deterministic guardrails for irreversible/high-risk actions; AI can advise but not silently override hard policy.
Continuous verification: reevaluate authority when context, owner, environment, model, tool or risk changes.
Evidence by design: every control decision generates structured, exportable records.

Implementation decisions

Define trust levels for unmanaged, observed, registered, verified and privileged agents.
Use explicit delegation chains when an agent acts for a person, service or another agent.
Support policy simulation before enforcement to reduce operational risk.
Design emergency access and break-glass procedures with mandatory logging and review.

Definition of done

Every privileged action has a traceable principal and policy decision.
No secret is exposed to a model when a brokered action can be performed instead.
Security policy can be evaluated even when the model provider is unavailable.

Success metrics

Percent of privileged agents verified
Least-privilege exceptions
Break-glass events
Policy coverage by protected system

TRUST MODEL

Never trust an agent because of where it runs; trust only verified identity, explicit authority, current context and policy.