AI Operations · Glossary
Build-Connect-Deploy-Govern-Improve Lifecycle
The Build-Connect-Deploy-Govern-Improve Lifecycle is the five-stage standard reference cycle of an Interactive Agent under AI Operations, run continuously rather than once per release.
Five stages, sequenced and named. Build: domain experts author the Eight Components. Connect: the agent is wired into the systems it reads and writes against, with tools, variables, and integrations defined. Deploy: the agent enters production under the operating governance. Govern: policies, evaluations, and traces are run against the agent continuously, with the AI Operations Lead accountable. Improve: production traces feed the annotation workflow and the autonomous improvement loop, gated by human governance.
The lifecycle is continuous. The agent moves through Govern and Improve every day, not at quarterly review. Build and Connect re-enter the cycle whenever the domain authors new behaviour or new integrations land.
Naming the cycle in five stages prevents the failure mode of treating an Interactive Agent as a one-time deployment with a maintenance backlog.
Continuous operation is continuous investment. The lifecycle is a permanent operating function, not a project phase.