Part 3: Production
Chapter 20: Production Readiness Checklist
Before taking an agent to production, assess readiness across these dimensions:
DNA & Configuration
- Instructions are clear, complete, and tested
- Knowledge base is accurate and up to date
- Guardrails and boundaries are explicit
- Escalation paths are defined
Evaluation
- Eval suite covers key scenarios and edge cases
- Quality baselines are established
- Safety testing has been performed
Observability
- Logging captures what you need to debug
- Monitoring dashboards are in place
- Alerts are configured for key metrics
Security
- Prompt injection mitigations are in place
- Data access is appropriately scoped
- Rate limiting is configured
Operations
- Incident response process is defined
- Ownership and accountability are clear
Use This Checklist
Not every item will apply to every agent, and the depth required varies by risk level. Use this as a starting point and adapt to your context.
Looking Ahead
Part 4 shifts focus from technology to transformation — the business case for agentic AI, how to identify candidates, governance, and the roadmap for your journey.