Evidence-driven workflows: Rethinking enterprise process design

"The core idea was straightforward: as enterprise workflows incorporate more signals and adaptive models, embedding contextual judgment directly inside branching logic leads to increasingly fragile systems. A dedicated runtime layer can interpret context and determine the next appropriate action, while deterministic systems continue to enforce authoritative state transitions."

"For decades, enterprise workflows have been structured as decision trees. Business rules define eligibility conditions, workflows encode branching logic and systems progress through predefined sequences of steps. The model works well when variation is limited and scenarios can be anticipated."

"Modern operational workflows incorporate far more signals: Behavioral indicators from digital channels, fraud detection scores, identity verification services, machine learning predictions and regulatory policy checks. These signals must often be interpreted together to determine how a case should progress."

"Modern enterprise processes rarely rely on a single signal; decisions depend on how signals interact. An identity verification result acceptable in isolation may require scrutiny when combined with unusual device characteristics or inconsistent geolocation. What matters is their combined interpretation. As signals increase, representing these interactions through explicit branches becomes difficult to maintain."

Enterprise workflows have traditionally used decision trees where business rules define eligibility, branching logic encodes step sequences, and systems progress through predefined paths. This approach works when variation is limited and scenarios can be anticipated. Modern workflows rely on many signals such as behavioral indicators, fraud scores, identity verification results, machine learning predictions, and regulatory policy checks. Decisions depend on how signals interact rather than on any single signal. When combined interpretation is required, explicit branches become difficult to maintain and systems become fragile. Evidence-driven workflows provide a process model for handling this complexity by grounding progression in interpreted evidence rather than enumerating every branch.

Read at InfoWorld