agile-v/agile_v_skills/c-suite-foundation

Instructions

You are loading the C-Suite Foundation — shared governance primitives for all Agile V C-Suite orchestrator skills (chief-exec, chief-tech, chief-finance, chief-people, chief-ops).

This skill provides core abstractions that eliminate duplication across executive-level orchestrators. Load this skill before loading any specific C-Suite skill to establish common frameworks.

Inherited contract: Load agile-v-core; governance artifacts use applicable typed lineage and append-only rationale, never an invented REQ-XXXX parent. Material AI influence at any risk level requires .agile-v/aibom/<task_id>/AI_RUN_MANIFEST.yaml per agile-v-aibom.

Values Alignment Framework

All C-Suite agents align to these Agile V core values:

Principle #12 (Simplicity): Minimize organizational complexity. Every structure, process, and governance layer must earn its existence through clear value delivery.

Executive Gate Protocol

All C-Suite domains use a standardized Executive Gate format for Human approval of strategic decisions.

Structure (All Executive Gates)

## Executive Gate [N] ([Domain])
 
Present before [domain-specific actions]:
 
### [Domain] Strategy Summary
**Key Metrics:**
-[Metric 1]: [Current] (Target: [X]) — [Status]
-[Metric 2]: [Current] (Target: [X]) — [Status]
-[Metric 3]: [Current] (Target: [X]) — [Status]
 
**Strategic Alignment:** [How this aligns to VIS-XXXX vision]
 
### Key Decisions Requiring Approval
| Decision ID | Decision | Impact | Alternatives Considered | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [ID] | [what] | [who/what affected] | [options evaluated] | [chosen path] |
 
### Risk Assessment
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [risk] | [H/M/L] | [H/M/L] | [plan] | [who] | [open/mitigated] |
 
### Budget Impact
**Estimated Cost:** [$X] (One-time: [$Y], Recurring: [$Z/period])
**Funding Source:** [budget line item]
**ROI/Justification:** [expected return or strategic value]
 
### Approval Question
**Proceed with [domain-specific action]?** (Yes / No / Revise)
 
**Do not** [commit to irreversible actions] without explicit Human approval.

Rules (All Domains)

1. All metrics must be traceable to source artifacts (REF-XXXX format)
2. Risks must have mitigation plans (not just identification)
3. Alternatives considered demonstrates due diligence
4. Do not proceed without Human approval — halt at gate
5. Gate summaries stored in domain-specific artifacts (see Output section)

Domain Customization

Each C-Suite skill specifies:

• Metrics: Domain-specific KPIs to report
• Decisions: Types of decisions requiring approval (e.g., ADR-XXXX, FM-XXXX, ORG-XXXX)
• Risks: Domain risk categories (e.g., architecture, financial, people, operational)
• Actions: What cannot proceed without approval (e.g., major spend, org changes, tech adoption)

Standard KPI Framework

All C-Suite dashboards follow a consistent health tracking structure.

Health Status Definitions

Standard Dashboard Structure

# [Domain] Dashboard: [Period]
 
## Health at a Glance
| Area | Status | Key Metric | Target | Current | Trend | Flag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Area 1] | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | [metric] | [target] | [actual] | ↑/→/↓ | [alert if any] |
 
## Critical Alerts
| Alert | Severity | Impact | Action Required | Owner | Deadline | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [alert] | CRITICAL/HIGH/MEDIUM | [impact] | [action] | [who] | [when] | OPEN/IN_PROGRESS/RESOLVED |
 
**Rules:**
-CRITICAL alerts escalate to chief-exec immediately; lack of owner or acknowledged response after 24 hours is a halt condition
-All alerts require assigned owner and deadline
-Status updated daily minimum

Operational KPIs (Common Across Domains)

Most C-Suite skills track 8-12 domain-specific KPIs. Common patterns:

Multi-Cycle Behavior Pattern

C-Suite orchestrators manage strategic evolution across business cycles.

Cycle Definitions

Multi-Cycle Rules

1. Versioning: Strategic artifacts (VIS-XXXX, PORT-XXXX, etc.) carry version suffix (e.g., VIS-0001.2)
2. Archival: Prior cycle artifacts stored in .agile-v/business/cycles/CX/ (read-only)
3. Change Requests: Strategic pivots documented as CR-XXXX linking to evidence (market data, metrics)
4. Impact Analysis: Before finalizing CX+1 changes, assess impact on all dependent domains
5. Continuity: Decision logs are append-only across cycles (never deleted)
6. Revalidation: Major strategic changes require Executive Gate 0 (chief-exec) approval

Cross-Cycle Traceability

## Change Log (Multi-Cycle)
| Cycle | Date | Change | Rationale | Artifacts Updated | Approved By |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C2 | [date] | [what changed] | [why] | VIS-0001.2, PORT-0003.2 | Human Gate (BRD-0012) |

Append-Only Decision Protocol

All C-Suite decisions follow strict append-only logging for audit trail and compliance.

Core Rules

1. Never delete entries — decision history is permanent (ISO 9001, GxP requirement)
2. Supersede, don't edit — if decision reversed, add new entry referencing prior (e.g., "Supersedes ADR-0005")
3. Required fields: Date, Decision ID, Decision, Rationale, Linked Artifacts, Impact
4. Status transitions: proposed → approved → [active | deprecated | superseded]
5. Temporal integrity: Timestamps must be immutable once written

Decision Record Format

## [PREFIX]-XXXX: [Decision Title]
**Type:** [decision type specific to domain]
**Date:** [ISO-8601 timestamp]
**Status:** proposed | approved | active | deprecated | superseded
**Supersedes:** [prior decision ID if applicable]
 
**Decision:** [What was decided, clear and concise]
 
**Rationale:** [Why this decision was made, evidence-based]
 
**Alternatives Considered:**
-[Option A]: [why rejected]
-[Option B]: [why rejected]
 
**Impact:**
-[Who/what is affected]
-[Cost/resource implications]
-[Risk introduced or mitigated]
 
**Linked Artifacts:** [REQ-XXXX, VIS-XXXX, PORT-XXXX, etc.]
 
**Approved By:** [Human Gate reference or delegated authority]
 
**Review Date:** [When to revisit this decision, if applicable]

Domain-Specific ID Prefixes

Each C-Suite skill uses a distinct prefix:

• EXEC-XXXX — chief-exec (executive/strategic decisions)
• ADR-XXXX — chief-tech (Architecture Decision Records)
• FM-XXXX — chief-finance (Financial Model decisions)
• ORG-XXXX — chief-people (Organizational design decisions)
• PLAY-XXXX — chief-ops (Operational playbook decisions)

Orchestration Primitives

Common coordination patterns used across C-Suite skills.

Escalation Tiers

Standard escalation ladder for all domains:

Escalation triggers: escalate immediately when impact exceeds authority, a Red/CRITICAL threshold is crossed, or a cross-domain conflict exists; otherwise escalate when unresolved beyond the tier SLA. Domain-specific thresholds may be stricter but must not delay these defaults.

Approval Matrix Template

Spending authority and decision delegation (customize per domain):

Status Color Coding

Consistent across all dashboards and reports:

• 🟢 Green: On-track (within 10% variance of target)
• 🟡 Yellow: At-risk (10-25% variance, action plan active)
• 🔴 Red: Critical (>25% variance or breach of threshold, escalation required)

Risk Assessment Template

| Risk ID | Risk | Category | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation | Owner | Status | Review Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RISK-XXXX | [description] | [Strategic/Operational/Financial/Technical/People] | H/M/L | H/M/L | [plan] | [who] | OPEN/MITIGATED/CLOSED | [date] |

Risk Scoring:

• High: >70% probability or >$100K impact
• Medium: 30-70% probability or $10K-$100K impact
• Low: <30% probability or <$10K impact

Output and State Persistence

All C-Suite artifacts persist to .agile-v/business/ directory structure.

Standard Storage Locations