Concept
Runtime Evidence
The proof you keep so an autonomous decision can be stood behind long after it was made.
In one sentence
Runtime Evidence is the durable, reviewable record that ties an autonomous decision to the context it faced and the real outcome it produced.
Why it matters
Autonomy removes the human who used to be able to explain a decision. When a regulator, an auditor, a customer dispute, or a postmortem later asks "why did the system do that, and did it work?", someone has to answer. A trace shows the machine ran. Evidence shows the machine ran, why it acted, and whether the result was right. Confidence you cannot show to a third party is not enterprise confidence.
Business context
Runtime Evidence is what a compliance, risk, or audit function asks for the moment an automated decision is challenged: a disputed claim, a regulator's inquiry, a customer escalation, a postmortem after a bad result. A leader cares because the cost of not having it is paid all at once, under pressure, when the decision is already made and the only party who could explain it is a piece of software.
Where it fits
Runtime Evidence is one of the three properties that make up Decision Assurance. It is the one that turns a measured outcome into something you can defend.
When it applies
Whenever a decision might later have to be explained or defended: regulated workflows, financial decisions, anything a customer can dispute, and anything a postmortem will examine. If no one will ever ask "why did it do that," you may not need evidence. In an enterprise, someone almost always asks.
Common misunderstandings
It is not the same as a log or a trace. A trace shows the machine ran; evidence shows why it acted and whether the result was right.
It is not something you can reconstruct later. If the record was not kept as the decision happened, it is not evidence.
It is not for engineers to debug with. Its audience is whoever has to stand behind the decision after the fact.
Related concepts
In the product
Where this shows up in Provy. Provy keeps a reviewable record for every agent
run, tying the decision to its outcome so a team can answer for it later. How that record is built and
stored is an implementation detail this library does not cover.
See the product →
Related insights
Further reading
- Provy Knowledge Center. The decision lifecycle (where evidence is captured).
- Provy Research. The Enterprise Confidence Gap.