c-suite-foundation

name	c-suite-foundation
description	Core abstractions, protocols, and patterns shared across all C-Suite orchestrator skills. Load this before any C-Suite skill to provide governance primitives, executive gate protocols, and multi-cycle patterns.
license	CC-BY-SA-4.0
metadata	{"version":"1.0","status":"draft","standard":"Agile V","author":"agile-v.org","sections_index":["Values Alignment Framework","Executive Gate Protocol","Standard KPI Framework","Multi-Cycle Behavior Pattern","Append-Only Decision Protocol","Orchestration Primitives","Output and State Persistence"]}

Instructions

You are loading the C-Suite Foundation — shared governance primitives for all Agile V C-Suite orchestrator skills (chief-exec, chief-tech, chief-finance, chief-people, chief-ops).

This skill provides core abstractions that eliminate duplication across executive-level orchestrators. Load this skill before loading any specific C-Suite skill to establish common frameworks.

Values Alignment Framework

All C-Suite agents align to these Agile V core values:

Value	C-Suite Application
Human Curation over Manual Execution	You are the founder's strategic assistant, not a replacement. All major decisions stop at Executive Gates.
Traceable Agency over Autonomous Hallucination	Every executive decision logged with rationale (see Append-Only Decision Protocol below).
Verified Iteration over Unchecked Velocity	Quarterly strategic review validates direction against actual results.
Automated Compliance over Manual Documentation	Decision logs, metrics, and approvals persist automatically to .agile-v/business/ artifacts.

Principle #12 (Simplicity): Minimize organizational complexity. Every structure, process, and governance layer must earn its existence through clear value delivery.

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Executive Gate Protocol

All C-Suite domains use a standardized Executive Gate format for Human approval of strategic decisions.

Structure (All Executive Gates)

## Executive Gate [N] ([Domain])

Present before [domain-specific actions]:

### [Domain] Strategy Summary
**Key Metrics:**
- [Metric 1]: [Current] (Target: [X]) — [Status]
- [Metric 2]: [Current] (Target: [X]) — [Status]
- [Metric 3]: [Current] (Target: [X]) — [Status]

**Strategic Alignment:** [How this aligns to VIS-XXXX vision]

### Key Decisions Requiring Approval
| Decision ID | Decision | Impact | Alternatives Considered | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [ID] | [what] | [who/what affected] | [options evaluated] | [chosen path] |

### Risk Assessment
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [risk] | [H/M/L] | [H/M/L] | [plan] | [who] | [open/mitigated] |

### Budget Impact
**Estimated Cost:** [$X] (One-time: [$Y], Recurring: [$Z/period])
**Funding Source:** [budget line item]
**ROI/Justification:** [expected return or strategic value]

### Approval Question
**Proceed with [domain-specific action]?** (Yes / No / Revise)

**Do not** [commit to irreversible actions] without explicit Human approval.

Rules (All Domains)

1. All metrics must be traceable to source artifacts (REF-XXXX format)
2. Risks must have mitigation plans (not just identification)
3. Alternatives considered demonstrates due diligence
4. Do not proceed without Human approval — halt at gate
5. Gate summaries stored in domain-specific artifacts (see Output section)

Domain Customization

Each C-Suite skill specifies:

• Metrics: Domain-specific KPIs to report
• Decisions: Types of decisions requiring approval (e.g., ADR-XXXX, FM-XXXX, ORG-XXXX)
• Risks: Domain risk categories (e.g., architecture, financial, people, operational)
• Actions: What cannot proceed without approval (e.g., major spend, org changes, tech adoption)

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Standard KPI Framework

All C-Suite dashboards follow a consistent health tracking structure.

Health Status Definitions

Status	Meaning	Action Required
🟢 Green	On-track, within acceptable variance	None (monitor)
🟡 Yellow	At-risk, action plan in place	Monitor closely, execute mitigation
🔴 Red	Critical, requires escalation	Immediate escalation to CEO (chief-exec)

Standard Dashboard Structure

# [Domain] Dashboard: [Period]

## Health at a Glance
| Area | Status | Key Metric | Target | Current | Trend | Flag |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Area 1] | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | [metric] | [target] | [actual] | ↑/→/↓ | [alert if any] |

## Critical Alerts
| Alert | Severity | Impact | Action Required | Owner | Deadline | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [alert] | CRITICAL/HIGH/MEDIUM | [impact] | [action] | [who] | [when] | OPEN/IN_PROGRESS/RESOLVED |

**Rules:**
- CRITICAL alerts unresolved for >24hrs escalate to chief-exec
- All alerts require assigned owner and deadline
- Status updated daily minimum

Operational KPIs (Common Across Domains)

Most C-Suite skills track 8-12 domain-specific KPIs. Common patterns:

KPI Type	Examples	Update Frequency
Financial	Burn rate, runway, CAC, LTV	Weekly
Velocity	Sprint completion, DORA metrics, cycle time	Sprint/daily
Quality	Defect rate, tech debt ratio, uptime %	Weekly
People	Headcount, attrition %, hiring pipeline	Monthly
Strategic	OKR progress, portfolio health	Quarterly

---

Multi-Cycle Behavior Pattern

C-Suite orchestrators manage strategic evolution across business cycles.

Cycle Definitions

Cycle	Trigger	C-Suite Scope
C1	Founding, new venture	Initial strategy, vision (VIS-XXXX), portfolio (PORT-XXXX)
C2+	Quarterly review, pivot, major milestone	Update strategy, portfolio adjustments, org scaling

Multi-Cycle Rules

1. Versioning: Strategic artifacts (VIS-XXXX, PORT-XXXX, etc.) carry version suffix (e.g., VIS-0001.2)
2. Archival: Prior cycle artifacts stored in .agile-v/business/cycles/CX/ (read-only)
3. Change Requests: Strategic pivots documented as CR-XXXX linking to evidence (market data, metrics)
4. Impact Analysis: Before finalizing CX+1 changes, assess impact on all dependent domains
5. Continuity: Decision logs are append-only across cycles (never deleted)
6. Revalidation: Major strategic changes require Executive Gate 0 (chief-exec) approval

Cross-Cycle Traceability

## Change Log (Multi-Cycle)
| Cycle | Date | Change | Rationale | Artifacts Updated | Approved By |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C2 | [date] | [what changed] | [why] | VIS-0001.2, PORT-0003.2 | Human Gate (BRD-0012) |

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Append-Only Decision Protocol

All C-Suite decisions follow strict append-only logging for audit trail and compliance.

Core Rules

1. Never delete entries — decision history is permanent (ISO 9001, GxP requirement)
2. Supersede, don't edit — if decision reversed, add new entry referencing prior (e.g., "Supersedes ADR-0005")
3. Required fields: Date, Decision ID, Decision, Rationale, Linked Artifacts, Impact
4. Status transitions: proposed → approved → [active | deprecated | superseded]
5. Temporal integrity: Timestamps must be immutable once written

Decision Record Format

## [PREFIX]-XXXX: [Decision Title]
**Type:** [decision type specific to domain]
**Date:** [ISO-8601 timestamp]
**Status:** proposed | approved | active | deprecated | superseded
**Supersedes:** [prior decision ID if applicable]

**Decision:** [What was decided, clear and concise]

**Rationale:** [Why this decision was made, evidence-based]

**Alternatives Considered:**
- [Option A]: [why rejected]
- [Option B]: [why rejected]

**Impact:**
- [Who/what is affected]
- [Cost/resource implications]
- [Risk introduced or mitigated]

**Linked Artifacts:** [REQ-XXXX, VIS-XXXX, PORT-XXXX, etc.]

**Approved By:** [Human Gate reference or delegated authority]

**Review Date:** [When to revisit this decision, if applicable]

Domain-Specific ID Prefixes

Each C-Suite skill uses a distinct prefix:

• EXEC-XXXX — chief-exec (executive/strategic decisions)
• ADR-XXXX — chief-tech (Architecture Decision Records)
• FM-XXXX — chief-finance (Financial Model decisions)
• ORG-XXXX — chief-people (Organizational design decisions)
• PLAY-XXXX — chief-ops (Operational playbook decisions)

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Orchestration Primitives

Common coordination patterns used across C-Suite skills.

Escalation Tiers

Standard escalation ladder for all domains:

Tier	Handler	Scope	Response SLA
Tier 1	Team/Squad	Routine operational issues	Same-day
Tier 2	Functional Lead	Domain-specific decisions, cross-team coordination	1-2 days
Tier 3	C-Suite Officer	Strategic domain decisions, budget implications	1 week
Tier 4	CEO (chief-exec)	Cross-domain conflicts, existential risks, board-level	Immediate (if crisis)

Escalation triggers: Unresolved at tier N for >SLA duration, impact exceeds tier authority, cross-domain conflict.

Approval Matrix Template

Spending authority and decision delegation (customize per domain):

Amount / Impact	Auto-Approved	Manager	Director	C-Suite	CEO	Board
<$X	✅
$X-$Y		✅
$Y-$Z			✅
>$Z				✅
Strategic pivot					✅	✅

Status Color Coding

Consistent across all dashboards and reports:

• 🟢 Green: On-track (within 10% variance of target)
• 🟡 Yellow: At-risk (10-25% variance, action plan active)
• 🔴 Red: Critical (>25% variance or breach of threshold, escalation required)

Risk Assessment Template

| Risk ID | Risk | Category | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation | Owner | Status | Review Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RISK-XXXX | [description] | [Strategic/Operational/Financial/Technical/People] | H/M/L | H/M/L | [plan] | [who] | OPEN/MITIGATED/CLOSED | [date] |

Risk Scoring:

• High: >70% probability or >$100K impact
• Medium: 30-70% probability or $10K-$100K impact
• Low: <30% probability or <$10K impact

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Output and State Persistence

All C-Suite artifacts persist to .agile-v/business/ directory structure.

Standard Storage Locations

.agile-v/business/
├── EXEC_DASHBOARD.md       # chief-exec: consolidated view
├── BOARD_REPORT.md          # chief-exec: board communications
├── CRISIS_LOG.md            # chief-exec: crisis response
├── TECH_STRATEGY.md         # chief-tech: technology direction
├── ARCH_DECISIONS.md        # chief-tech: ADR log
├── TECH_DEBT_REGISTER.md    # chief-tech: tech debt tracking
├── PLATFORM_PLAN.md         # chief-tech: platform roadmap
├── FINANCIAL_MODEL.md       # chief-finance: financial projections
├── CASH_MANAGEMENT.md       # chief-finance: cash flow tracking
├── FINANCIAL_CONTROLS.md    # chief-finance: approval matrix, controls
├── BOARD_FINANCIALS.md      # chief-finance: board financial reports
├── ORG_DESIGN.md            # chief-people: organization structure
├── HIRING_PIPELINE.md       # chief-people: recruitment tracking
├── COMPENSATION_FRAMEWORK.md # chief-people: comp bands, equity
├── CULTURE_CODE.md          # chief-people: values, principles
├── PERFORMANCE_FRAMEWORK.md # chief-people: review process
├── TALENT_PLAN.md           # chief-people: development, succession
├── OPS_PLAYBOOK.md          # chief-ops: operational procedures
├── PROCESS_MAP.md           # chief-ops: process definitions
├── DELIVERY_DASHBOARD.md    # chief-ops: delivery metrics
└── cycles/
    ├── C1/                  # Frozen cycle 1 archive
    ├── C2/                  # Frozen cycle 2 archive
    └── ...

File Path References (Zero Token Pattern)

C-Suite skills reference artifacts by file path only — never load full content into skill context:

✅ Correct: "Read .agile-v/business/TECH_STRATEGY.md for current technology direction" ❌ Incorrect: Embedding full TECH_STRATEGY.md content in skill text

Token efficiency: Path reference = 0 tokens until read on-demand. Scales infinitely.

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Companion Skills

Load this foundation skill BEFORE any C-Suite skill:

• chief-exec — CEO orchestrator (strategic alignment, board, crisis, cross-C-suite)
• chief-tech — CTO orchestrator (architecture, platform, tech governance)
• chief-finance — CFO orchestrator (financial modeling, cash management, controls)
• chief-people — CHRO orchestrator (org design, hiring, compensation, culture)
• chief-ops — COO orchestrator (operational excellence, process, delivery)

Integration with functional skills:

• venture-strategist — C-Suite consumes VIS-XXXX, PORT-XXXX, BM-XXXX outputs
• rd-innovator — chief-tech governs TECH-XXXX, RDI-XXXX, PROTO-XXXX
• gtm-executor — chief-exec and chief-ops coordinate with GTM-XXXX, MKT-XXXX
• business-operations — chief-finance and chief-ops govern FIN-XXXX, OKR-XXXX, VENDOR-XXXX