---
name: al-162-answer-the-money-and-security-questions-before-an-agent-g
description: "Before building an agent, answer the five questions your finance and security people will ask: which workflow and what it costs today, what the agent costs to run and its ceiling, what happens if it fails, where the data goes, and who can change or switch it off. Paul Bracht uses this checklist with CFOs and CISOs at portfolio companies, with examples like a $20 daily spending cap. Use when the user wants help with agent rollout (business strategy) for a small business."
---

# Answer the money and security questions before an agent goes live

Before building an agent, answer the five questions your finance and security people will ask: which workflow and what it costs today, what the agent costs to run and its ceiling, what happens if it fails, where the data goes, and who can change or switch it off. Paul Bracht uses this checklist with CFOs and CISOs at portfolio companies, with examples like a $20 daily spending cap.

## Inputs to collect first
Ask the user for anything below that they haven't already given you. Don't guess missing facts.

- Your own material (text, notes or data)

## Instructions

Do the task below with the user's inputs in place of each [bracket].

I want to put an AI agent on this workflow: [describe it]. Help me write a one-page go-live brief that answers five questions in plain language: (1) Which exact workflow is this, and what does it cost today in time or money, using a number we already track? (2) What will the agent cost to run each month, and what hard spending cap should we set? (3) What happens if it doesn't work, and how do we stop or roll back? (4) Where does our data go, and does it ever leave our own accounts? (5) Who is allowed to change the agent, and who can switch it off? For any question I can't answer yet, tell me what I need to find out. End with the single number we'll use to judge success after 30 days.

## Safety checks (share these with the user)

- Check every figure, price and total against your own records before anything is sent, posted or booked. A person approves refunds, discounts, payments and price changes.
- Check names, dates, numbers and any claim against your own source material before you use the answer. AI can misread or invent details.
- Say clearly which parts need a person to review or approve before anything is sent, paid, posted or filed.

## About this skill

- Works with: ChatGPT, Claude, Notion
- Based on this real-world example: https://x.com/Paul_Bracht/status/2110840799915069907
- Free prompt from AgentPlaybook Real Estate: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/prompt/al-162-answer-the-money-and-security-questions-before-an-agent-goes/
- To install in an agent that supports Agent Skills, save this file as SKILL.md in a folder with the same name as `name` above (for example in your skills directory). Install steps for Claude.ai, Claude Code, Cursor and Codex: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/skills/