GATEKEEPER AI AGENTS
Business Justification Reviewer Agent.
A sourcing exception is only as strong as the reason given for it.
The Business Justification Reviewer Agent checks every justification as it is submitted, so approvers sign off on reasons they can rely on.
See it in action.
HOW IT WORKS
How the Business Justification Reviewer Agent works.
Justification submitted.
The requester enters a business justification or selects a reason, such as single source or no competitive tender, on the card in Gatekeeper’s workflow.
Reason identified.
The agent identifies the reason claimed from the selected option, the free text or both.
Explanation checked.
The agent checks that sole vendor claims explain exclusivity and urgency claims specify the event and deadline.
Weak reasons flagged.
Preferences such as “we’ve used them before”, a copy of the request description and missing alternatives are each flagged.
Contradictions checked.
The agent flags answers that contradict the justification, such as “urgent” with a start date months away, or “sole vendor” with alternatives listed.
Structured output.
Findings are summarised with a verdict of Sufficient or Needs more detail, a short assessment and up to three specific requests to the requester.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Which justifications does the Business Justification Reviewer Agent check?
The Business Justification Reviewer Agent checks business justifications for any request, especially exceptions to normal sourcing such as no competitive tender, single or sole source and direct awards. It recognises reasons including:
- Sole or unique vendor
- Continuation, extension or renewal of an existing service
- Urgency or emergency
- Below threshold
- Framework or pre-approved panel
- Best value, preferred vendor or a new business need
What does each reason need?
The Business Justification Reviewer Agent checks each reason against what it requires.
A sole vendor claim needs to explain why no other vendor can provide the service. An urgency claim needs the event, the deadline and why normal sourcing would cause harm. A below-threshold claim needs the value and confirmation the request has not been split.
Does poor planning count as urgency?
No. The Business Justification Reviewer Agent treats urgency as an event, a deadline and harm that normal sourcing would cause. Poor planning does not count, and an urgent claim with a start date months away is flagged as a contradiction.
How high is the bar?
The Business Justification Reviewer Agent checks the explanation is relevant and specific enough for an approver to rely on. The bar is relevance and clarity rather than perfection, so a short, specific justification passes where a vague one does not.
What happens when more detail is needed?
The Business Justification Reviewer Agent returns Needs more detail with up to three specific requests to the requester, such as naming the alternatives considered. The requester knows exactly what to add before an approver looks at the request.
What are the configuration options?
Tailor the Agent to your organisation’s sourcing policy rather than a generic checklist, including:
- Recognised reasons
- What each reason needs
- Contradiction checks
- Verdict rules
- Review outputs
Does it approve the exception?
No. The Business Justification Reviewer Agent checks the justification is specific enough to rely on. Your approvers still decide whether to grant the exception as part of your spend management process.
How does Agent automation compare with a manual process?
Without Agent automation, approvers read each justification and judge on the spot whether it is specific enough.
- Vague reasons get approved because they are hard to challenge.
- Contradictions with other answers go unnoticed.
- Requests for more detail are written from scratch.
With Agent automation, justifications are checked automatically as soon as they are submitted.
- Every reason is checked against what it needs.
- Weak and contradictory justifications are flagged.
- Requesters know exactly what to add.
Is there an audit trail?
Every Agent action is recorded in Gatekeeper with a timestamp, including the criteria applied, decision made, supporting evidence and reasoning where applicable.
This creates a searchable record of how each outcome was reached, supporting compliance verification, internal review and audit requirements.
How is my data kept secure and compliant?
Your data stays within Gatekeeper while the Agent performs its work. Actions, decisions and supporting evidence are logged, creating a clear audit trail.
The Agent operates within the permissions, playbooks and authority controls you configure.
Data handling follows Gatekeeper’s enterprise security standards, including SOC 2 Type II compliance and GDPR requirements.
one unified record
Every capability, unified.
One system of truth.
Customer and vendor contracts, obligations, and renewals in one record.
See spend against contract.
Contract value sits next to what is actually being spent.
No single point of failure.
Contract knowledge lives in the platform, so nothing is lost when someone changes role or leaves.
Draft from approved templates.
Every agreement starts from language Legal already trusts.
Keep control of the clause library.
Guard-railed templates keep off-policy wording from going out.
Nothing renews unnoticed.
Every renewal date tracked, with owners and reminders set automatically.
Expert insight & opinion
Related AI agents.
Gatekeeper's agents work as a single, connected team, handing off to one another across the lifecycle rather than running in isolation like bolted-on point tools.
