Roles & Permissions

Decisions fail when accountability is ambiguous. To solve this, Axiom natively implements the DACI (Driver, Approver, Contributor, Informed) framework at the project level.

DACI isn't just a philosophy in Axiom—it is deeply integrated into the application's role-based access control (RBAC). Your DACI role dictates exactly what you can see and do within a project.

The DACI Roles

1. The Driver (Project Owner)

The Driver is the person responsible for pushing the decision forward. They do the heavy lifting: gathering data, setting up meetings, and ensuring milestones are hit.

  • Permissions: Full control. They can edit criteria, add options, modify project settings, and approve score suggestions.
  • Rule: There can only be one Driver per project.

2. The Approver

The Approver is the ultimate decision-maker. They have the authority to break ties, ratify choices, and finalize the decision.

  • Permissions: Similar to the Driver, they have administrative rights over the matrix. They can lock the project and officially record the final decision.
  • Best Practice: Keep this to one or two people to prevent bottlenecks.

3. The Contributor

Contributors are subject matter experts. They evaluate options, provide data, and suggest scores based on their expertise.

  • Permissions: They cannot change the foundational criteria or weights. They can add new options, write comments, and submit Score Suggestions.
  • Interaction: If a Contributor believes a vendor deserves a 5 instead of a 3, they submit a suggestion. The Driver or Approver must ratify this change.

4. The Informed

Informed stakeholders are kept in the loop but do not have active voting or editing rights.

  • Permissions: Read-only access. They can view the matrix, read the rationale, and see the final decision outcome, but cannot mutate any state.

Organization vs. Project Roles

It is important to distinguish between your overall Organization Role and your Project Role.

  • Org Admins: Automatically possess Driver-level rights across all projects within the organization, allowing them to intervene or reassign orphaned projects.
  • Org Members: Default to the Informed role on public projects unless explicitly assigned a higher DACI role for that specific project.

The Audit Trail

Because DACI is strictly enforced in the UI, Axiom's Activity Log can definitively tell you who proposed a change (a Contributor) and who ratified it (an Approver). This separation of powers ensures high-velocity decisions remain fully compliant and auditable.

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