The missing layer in AI-agent governance is recoverability

Normal Controls

What existing systems usually answer

Identity, authentication, authorization, policy engines, validation, logging, monitoring, and incident response are necessary. They usually answer who is acting, whether access is allowed, whether a policy is violated, and what happened afterward.

Recoverability Signals

What institutions should measure before execution

Where SMERC Fits

SMERC is one implementation of recoverability governance

SMERC sits between authorization/policy and execution. It scores the proposed action, returns a posture, maps the action through the Governance Routing Workbench, binds controls, preserves a Decision Lifecycle Ledger record, and creates replayable audit evidence. In the reference implementation, the routing layer is called SPARTa.