# The judgment engine: an independent check on every piece of work | BYOM

URL: https://byom.co/judgment-engine  
Markdown: https://byom.co/judgment-engine.md  
Last updated: 2026-10-01

> Kina writes. The judgment engine checks. You decide. The judgment engine is an independent check on Kina's work. Before a draft, a proposal or a stage of a Rail reaches you, it is asked a few narrow questions about that work and answers each one plainly.

## Why it exists

An assistant asked to check its own work tends to agree with itself. So BYOM separates the work from the check, and keeps the final say with a person.

- Kina writes: Reads the evidence, drafts the reply, plans the work and explains it.
- The judgment engine checks: Answers narrow questions about that work: does this follow your policy, is this the right read, does this need a person.
- BYOM counts: Money, dates, stock, limits and the final allow or refuse are worked out exactly, never estimated.
- You decide: A named person approves every change. Nothing else can.

## Where it checks

- Replies to customers: Each draft is checked against your policy and the evidence it cites before it waits for you in Customer Service.
- What Kina must never say: What you tell Kina never to say is checked by meaning, so a claim you banned is caught in any wording.
- Hidden instructions: Instructions buried in product text, tickets or web pages are flagged and treated as data, never followed.
- Every stage of a Rail: A stage only passes when what it produced holds up. If it does not, the run stops there and tells you why.
- Questions asked in words: Ask Readouts for a figure in plain words and the engine picks the right read. The number itself is always counted, never guessed.
- Still what you approved: Just before a change is made, it is checked again against what you signed.

## Four plain answers

Four plain answers. Never a percentage, a score or a confidence bar.

Every check is kept beside the work it checked, so a receipt shows what was asked and what came back.

- Confirmed: The check passed. The work carries on to you.
- Needs you: The check found something a person should look at, and says what.
- Unclear: The evidence did not settle it. You see the question, not a guess.
- Unavailable: The check could not run. BYOM says so, and the work still comes to a person.

## What the judgment engine never does

- Write to your store, your helpdesk or your ad accounts
- Approve a change, or stand in for the person who does
- Decide money, numbers or dates
- Learn from your data to serve anyone else

## How it gets sharper

The engine gets sharper as it knows your brand: the policies you approve in Knowledge, your voice in Brand Memory and the examples your own team has signed off. It is never trained on your customers' data.

## Questions

- What is the judgment engine? An independent check on Kina's work. Before a draft, a proposal or a stage of a Rail reaches you, it answers a few narrow questions about that work and gives one of four plain answers: Confirmed, Needs you, Unclear or Unavailable.
- Is it just Kina checking itself? No. The check is separate from the assistant that did the work, and it is only ever asked narrow questions it can answer plainly. Numbers, money and dates are counted by BYOM, not judged.
- Can the judgment engine approve a change? No. It only adds checks. It never writes and never approves. A named person on your team approves every change.
- What happens when a check cannot run? BYOM shows Unavailable and the work still comes to a person. An unavailable check is never shown as a pass.
- Why no confidence score? A percentage looks precise and tells you nothing you can act on. The engine says Confirmed, Needs you, Unclear or Unavailable, and shows what it checked.
- Is it trained on our data? No. It is never trained on your customers' data. It gets sharper for your brand from the policies, voice and examples your team approves.
- Does it cost extra? No. The judgment engine is part of every BYOM plan.