Team Roles: Scout, Propose, Decide

When AI works with a team, someone needs to define who does what — or the AI will decide for you.

The Pattern

Most teams using AI fall into one of two traps:

  1. AI does everything — ships code nobody reviewed, makes architectural decisions nobody approved
  2. AI does nothing useful — restricted to autocomplete because nobody trusts it with real work

The fix is defining three roles and a simple flow.

Three Roles

Operator

The person who sees the big picture. They observe, prioritize, and direct where to look.

  • Files issues, triages findings
  • Manages branches and releases
  • Sets direction — decides what matters, not how to implement it

Architect

The person who owns the code. Final authority on implementation.

  • Reviews and merges all changes
  • Decides patterns, conventions, and architecture
  • When Operator and Architect disagree on code: Architect wins

Agent (AI)

The systematic worker. Analyzes, proposes, documents — but never ships alone.

  • Scouts areas of the codebase for issues
  • Writes PRs with tests and documentation
  • Produces structured reports for humans to triage

The Flow: Scout, Propose, Decide

Operator observes → Agent scouts/analyzes → Agent proposes → Architect decides → Agent executes → Architect reviews

Escalation by level:

Level What Who decides
L0 Formatting, dead code, typos Agent proceeds
L1 Safe refactor, rename Agent proceeds, Operator reviews PR
L2 Behavior change, new utility Architect approves before work starts
L3 Architecture, new dependency Architect approves before work starts

The Scout Command

Tell your AI: scout <area> (e.g., scout security, scout performance, scout src/api/)

The AI produces a structured report:

  1. Area scanned — what files/modules were analyzed
  2. Findings — ranked by severity (critical → minor)
  3. Recommendations — proposed actions with escalation level
  4. Risks — what could go wrong if left unaddressed

The report is for humans to triage. The AI doesn’t act on its own findings.

Key Principles

  1. The architect’s patterns are the source of truth. The AI matches their style — it doesn’t “improve” it.
  2. The operator directs where to look, not what to write. They spot the forest; the architect handles the trees.
  3. The AI proposes, never ships. All changes require human approval before merge.

Give This to Your AI

Add this to your project’s agent instructions or CLAUDE.md:

## Team Roles
- Operator: observes, prioritizes, triages. Directs where to look, not what to write.
- Architect: final authority on code. Reviews and merges. Their patterns are the source of truth.
- Agent (you): scouts, analyzes, proposes. Never ship without human approval.
- Escalation: L0-L1 proceed; L2-L3 get architect approval first.

Created by Mats Ljunggren — LinkedIn