Add them early when risk is visible
- The system handles personal, customer, or confidential information.
- The answer could affect money, eligibility, safety, or legal decisions.
- The AI can send, publish, delete, buy, or update something.
- Users may mistake a generated answer for an official decision.
- A prompt injection could change the task or expose context.
Start with the smallest useful controls
You do not need a giant policy platform on day one. Begin with input validation, permission boundaries, output checks, logs, and approval for irreversible actions. Add more controls when real failures show where the system needs them.
The cost of waiting
A prototype can tolerate a wrong draft. It cannot quietly tolerate a wrong refund, a leaked customer record, or an inaccurate public claim. Add controls before the feature becomes part of someone’s routine, not after the first incident.