Decision Provenance Framework.

Trace not only where data came from, but how it informed a decision, recommendation or AI response — as one connected chain.

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Executive summary

Decision Provenance is the reconstructable record of what informed a decision: the data, context, policies and product version behind it, and the human or AI consumer that acted on it.

Data lineage tells you where data came from. Decision Provenance answers what happened next — which transformations, policies, product version and consumer turned that data into a specific decision or AI output.

In an AI-enabled organization, Decision Provenance is no longer optional. Regulators, customers and executives need a coherent answer to "why did the system decide that?" — and that answer must connect data, policy and outcome.

Why it matters

When evidence is disconnected, explaining an AI-informed decision is harder. Connected decision records help organizations investigate problems, defend decisions and learn from outcomes. The strength of that record depends on the evidence available.

What leaders should understand

One chain, end to end

Source data → transformations → policies → product version → consumer → decision. Organizations need to connect the relevant evidence at each link; gaps must be identified rather than assumed away.

It requires connected evidence

Active governance and versioned data products provide useful foundations. Complete decision provenance also requires evidence from the relevant systems, consumers and actions.

It is how trust scales

A connected record helps leaders assess and defend decisions. Its reliability depends on the coverage and quality of the evidence captured.

It supports auditability

Decision provenance can support explainability and auditability. Organizations must assess the evidence required for their use cases and obligations.

Decision Provenance

From data lineage to decision provenance.

Decision Provenance connects the available evidence about which source data, transformations, policies, product version and consumer informed a decision, recommendation or AI response. Organizations must connect these records with the relevant systems and actions to reconstruct the chain. Decision Integrity answers the next question: whether that decision can be trusted and defended.

Source data→

Transformations→

Policies→

Product version→

Consumer→

Decision

Active Governance

Passive governance documents.
Active governance enforces.

Traditional governance often documents policies, ownership and classifications. Active governance applies those policies at the point where data is created, served and consumed. Its coverage depends on the configured policies and connected systems. Governance supports decision accountability, but does not by itself capture every decision or enforce every policy across external systems.

Passive governance

• Policies live in documents
• Reviewed quarterly, in arrears
• Enforced by people, when remembered
• Disconnected from execution

Active governance

• Policies live with the data product
• Applied at create, serve and consume
• Enforcement depends on configured scope
• Trust is observable, not assumed

Take the perspective with you

Decision Integrity & Decision Provenance — Executive Brief

Explore how organizations connect the evidence behind decisions and assess whether those decisions can be trusted and defended.

01
Trace what informed a decision. Use available evidence about context, product versions, policies, consumers and actions.
02
Connect and test participating systems. Establish identifiers, responsibilities and evidence coverage; make gaps visible.
03
Respect capability boundaries. The framework does not verify automatic decision recording, universal enforcement or evidence capture across external systems.

Download Decision Integrity & Decision Provenance Executive Brief (PDF)

PDF · 3 pages · Includes QR codes to both decision frameworks. Download and share with colleagues.

How it fits into the Decision-Driven Enterprise

Decision Provenance helps close the Decision-Driven Enterprise loop by connecting evidence about the data, policies, consumers and actions behind a decision. Latttice is the data product workbench for business-led data products with semantic context and active governance. That foundation supports the framework; organizations must connect the relevant external systems and action records. It is not a claim that Latttice automatically captures every decision or action, or guarantees end-to-end evidence capture.

The framework

Decision-Driven Enterprise

The point of view this all sits inside.

The proof

Decision Provenance & Integrity

What happened, and whether it can be trusted.

The language

Glossary

Plain-English definitions for every term.