Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) Governance Policy

Version: 1.0 Effective Date: 1 March 2026 Owner: Altara AI Governance Office Classification: Internal Governance Policy Issued by: Altara AI · Part of the Navigate Compliance Group (Pty) Ltd

1. Purpose

This Human-in-the-Loop ("HITL") Governance Policy establishes the governance principles, oversight mechanisms, and operational controls implemented by Altara AI to ensure that artificial intelligence systems remain subject to meaningful human oversight, accountability, ethical governance, and regulatory compliance.

Altara AI recognises that AI systems must augment — not replace — human judgment, particularly in environments involving governance, compliance, cybersecurity, fraud detection, risk assessments, investor protection, and regulatory decision-support.

This policy supports Altara AI's commitment to:

Responsible AI
Human accountability
Consumer protection
Fairness and transparency
AI governance best practices
Digital trust and ethical innovation

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

All AI-powered systems, tools, modules, and services developed, deployed, operated, or managed by Altara AI
Internal AI systems used by employees, contractors, advisors, and partners
AI-assisted outputs provided to clients
AI-generated risk assessments, summaries, alerts, recommendations, classifications, or trust scores
AI governance and monitoring platforms operated by Altara AI

This includes, but is not limited to:

AI risk assessments
AI trust scoring
Fraud detection systems
Scam analysis engines
Regulatory intelligence tools
AI governance dashboards
AI document analysis
Consumer protection monitoring systems

3. Governance Principles

Altara AI adopts the following HITL governance principles:

3.1 Human Accountability

Humans remain ultimately accountable for decisions, interpretations, actions, and outcomes generated using AI-assisted systems.

AI systems shall not independently make legally binding, regulatory, disciplinary, or high-impact decisions without human review and approval.

3.2 Human Oversight

AI outputs must be reviewable, challengeable, and overrideable by authorised human personnel.

Human reviewers must have sufficient authority, competency, and contextual understanding to validate AI-generated outputs.

3.3 Human-in-Command

Altara AI maintains governance structures ensuring that humans retain operational control over:

AI deployment
AI model configuration
Escalation decisions
Approval workflows
Risk thresholds
Monitoring controls
Incident responses

3.4 Transparency

Users must be informed when they are interacting with or receiving outputs from AI-assisted systems.

AI-generated outputs must not be represented as definitive legal, regulatory, or professional advice unless independently reviewed and approved by appropriately qualified professionals.

3.5 Proportionality

The degree of human oversight shall be proportionate to:

Risk level
Regulatory impact
Consumer impact
Operational criticality
Sensitivity of decisions
Potential harm

Higher-risk use cases require enhanced human validation and governance controls.

4. Human Oversight Controls

Altara AI implements the following controls:

4.1 Review and Validation

AI-generated outputs may require:

Human review
Secondary approval
Expert escalation
Regulatory validation
Compliance sign-off

depending on the risk classification of the activity.

4.2 Override Mechanisms

Authorised personnel may:

Reject AI outputs
Amend recommendations
Escalate findings
Suspend AI-driven processes
Override automated classifications

where appropriate.

4.3 Escalation Procedures

Material risks, anomalies, or high-risk AI outputs must be escalated to designated governance personnel, including:

Compliance officers
AI governance leads
Legal advisors
Cybersecurity personnel
Risk management teams

4.4 Auditability

Altara AI maintains audit trails where feasible, including:

User interactions
AI-generated outputs
Human approvals
Escalations
Overrides
Monitoring logs

to support accountability, transparency, and regulatory oversight.

5. AI Limitations and Disclaimers

AI systems operated by Altara AI:

May produce inaccurate, incomplete, biased, or outdated outputs
Operate probabilistically and not deterministically
Should not be relied upon as the sole basis for decision-making
Do not replace qualified legal, compliance, cybersecurity, financial, or regulatory professionals

Users remain responsible for independently validating outputs before reliance or implementation.

6. High-Risk Use Cases

Enhanced HITL governance applies to AI systems involving:

Consumer protection
Fraud detection
Investor education
Regulatory compliance
Identity verification
Trust scoring
AI risk assessments
Cybersecurity monitoring
AI governance diagnostics

Such systems may require:

Mandatory human validation
Escalation workflows
Governance approvals
Enhanced monitoring
Continuous assurance reviews

7. AI Governance Structures

Altara AI may establish governance structures including:

AI Governance Councils
Advisory Boards
Ethics Committees
Compliance Oversight Forums
Model Risk Review Committees

to support responsible AI governance and oversight.

8. Monitoring and Continuous Improvement

Altara AI continuously monitors AI systems for:

Performance degradation
Hallucinations
Bias indicators
Emerging threats
Adversarial manipulation
False positives and false negatives
Consumer harm risks

Governance controls may be updated periodically in response to:

Regulatory developments
Industry standards
Emerging risks
Operational findings
Incident reviews

9. Regulatory Alignment

This policy is informed by evolving global AI governance principles and frameworks, including:

OECD AI Principles
NIST AI Risk Management Framework
ISO/IEC AI governance standards
EU AI Act principles
Data protection and privacy laws
Responsible AI best practices

10. Policy Review

This policy shall be reviewed periodically to ensure continued alignment with:

Regulatory expectations
Industry practices
Operational realities
Technological developments
Organisational governance objectives

11. Contact

For questions relating to this policy or AI governance practices, contact:

Altara AI Digital Trust and AI Governance Part of the Navigate Compliance Group (Pty) Ltd Johannesburg, South Africa Website: www.altaracore.ai