AI Workflow Decommissioning Checklist
Decide when to pause, replace, downgrade, archive, or remove an AI workflow without leaving unmanaged operating debt.
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The exact sections inside the download.
Frame the operating decision
Should the workflow be paused before full retirement? What system, person, or process takes over? Use the combined view to name the business outcome, source of truth, and owner who will decide whether to proceed.
Set the control boundary
Which records, logs, prompts, evaluations, or decisions must be preserved? Which permissions, API keys, tools, or integrations must be revoked? State the risk to avoid, review or escalation route, and record needed to keep the workflow controlled.
Commit to the first move
Who needs to know the workflow is changing or ending? Pause, replace, downgrade, archive, or remove? Record the smallest safe scope, baseline, owner, evidence, decision date, and next action.
Decision summary
Pause, replace, downgrade, archive, or remove? What is deleted, retained, exported, or anonymized? Summarize the proposed move, operating benefit, and the evidence that supports it.
Evidence and control
Who approves the decommissioning? State the source, review boundary, accountable owner, and condition that would require revision or pause. Keep the decision receipt with the workflow record.
Next review
Record the decision owner, evidence source, review date, and the explicit condition to scale, revise, defer, or stop. Confirm how the resulting decision will be communicated, implemented, and retained in the operating record.
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Frame the decision
Name the real operating need before designing a solution.
Name the AI workflow, assistant, automation, or agent.
Low value, high risk, stale context, replacement, cost, or ownership gap.
Name who signs off and communicates the change.
How to use it
Start with one real decision.
Complete the canvas with the workflow owner, then use the blank areas to expose missing context and controls.