How To Use Decisions

Content:

1. Overview — What is a Decision?
2. Prerequisites — When to create a Decision
3. Creating a new Decision
• 3.1 Creating a Decision Draft
• 3.2 Filling in the Decision template — manually and with AI
• 3.3 Attaching affected applications
• 3.4 Adding collaborators
• 3.5 Adding approvers and pre-selected approver groups
• 3.6 Adding Decision Documents
4. What is the Initiative Snapshot about?
5. How to use the Decision Assistant
6. Submitting a Decision for approval
7. Tracking the status of your Decision
8. Working on change requests, editing, or cancelling a Decision
9. FAQ

1. Overview - What is a Decision?

A Decision is the formal, documented record of which technology solution your organization will adopt (or reject) and why - the outcome of the evaluation work you did in an Initiative.

Instead of capturing that outcome in scattered emails and slides, a Decision gives you a single, structured, reviewable document that:

• Recommends a technology solution (Adopt or Reject) with a written rationale.
• Explains the reasoning in clear sections defined by a decision template - which the AI can draft for you from your Initiative's evaluation data. Please note that the structure of the decision template is custom to your organization and defined by your system admins
• Routes the document through approval by the right people and approval groups.
• Keeps a complete history - who wrote what, who approved it, and when - that you can export at any time.

You can open Decisions in two places:

2. Prerequisites - When to create a Decision

Create a Decision once an Initiative has evaluated its candidate tools and you're ready to record and get approval on the outcome.

You need:

• An Initiative with at least one shortlisted application. The application you want to "decide on" must be present in the Initiative's analysis/shortlist. If the Decide on button is greyed out, it means there is no application available yet - add one to the shortlist first and make sure that all evaluations are correct.
• A Decision Template. Templates are configured by your administrators (in Organization Settings → Decision Templates). They define which sections the Decision contains and which approval groups review it. You simply pick one when creating the Decision within an Initiative.

3. Creating a new Decision

3.1. Creating a Decision Draft for your Initiative

1. Open your Initiative and go to the Decisions tab (or use the empty-state prompt: "Create your first Decision…").
2. Click Decide on (top-right).
3. Select the desired application - choose the shortlisted tool this Decision is about.
4. Select a Decision Template - pick the template that fits

Stackgini creates the Decision in Draft status and opens it. Behind the scenes the AI immediately fills in the initial content of the template fields based on the data and evaluations in your initiative. 

3.2. Filling in the Decision template - manually and with AI

The Overview tab shows the decision document body. Fields marked with a red asterisk (*) are required before you can submit for approval.

For each field you can:

• Edit manually: click Click to edit to open the rich-text editor. It supports headings, sub-headings, bullet & numbered lists, bold, italic, underline, and tables.
• Let the AI write it: use the Generate button inside a field to have the assistant draft (or re-draft) that section from your Initiative data. Then edit the result as you like. Tip: Use the instructions feature to give the AI more guidance on what to write and how to write it. You can even reference and instruct the AI to use specific files or data from your initiative!
• Edit the title: click the Decision title at the top to rename it.

If the AI doesn't have enough information for a field (e.g. the Initiative is still being evaluated), it will say so rather than guess — you can then fill that field in manually.

3.3. Attaching affected applications

Under Affected Applications you record the recommendation for each application this Decision concerns:

1. Click + Add Application to include an application. Please note: You will only be able to add applications which are part of the Shortlist.
2. Set its recommendation using the status dropdown next to the application name:
• ADOPT - you're recommending this application for adoption.
• REJECT - you're recording this application as not chosen to provide decision-makers more context why you did not go for a particular application.
3. Fill in the rationale field beneath it (e.g. "Why is this application being adopted?") - this is required.

A single Decision can list several applications — typically one Adopt plus any Rejected alternatives - so the record can show both what you chose and what you turned down. 

3.4. Adding collaborators

Collaborators are people who help you author the Decision and get access to it even when they are not part of the approvers.

1. In the right-hand sidebar, find the COLLABORATORS section.
2. Click Add and search for the person you want to include.

The Decision's Owner is shown here too. As the in-app note explains: "Owners can manage the Decision's Collaborators and Approvers, change its state, and delete it."

3.5. Adding approvers and pre-selected approver groups

Approvals are configured in the APPROVAL section of the sidebar. They come from two sources:

• Pre-selected approver groups (from the template and set by your system admin). Your template usually comes with one or more approval groups already in place. Each group shows its rules, e.g. "2 members · 1 approval needed · 1 rejection allowed," and groups can be sequenced ("Depends on …") so one stage only starts after another finishes. Click a group row to expand it and see its members.
• Individual approvers (added on the Decision). Click Add in the APPROVAL section to open Add Approvers, then search for a person and add them. Note the rule: "Each individual Approver can single-handedly reject or block this Decision. All other Approvers still need to approve as configured."

Approvals resolve in first-to-threshold fashion: as soon as a group reaches its required approvals (or its allowed rejections), that stage is decided and any remaining votes in it are skipped. Approvers can be adjusted only while the Decision is still in Draft. 

3.6. Adding Further Decision Documents

Use the Documents tab to attach supporting files for this decision.

1. Open the Documents tab.
2. Click Upload document and choose your file.

When empty, the tab shows "No documents uploaded." Uploaded documents also become context the AI can reference.

Also note that all collected documents, evaluations and requirements from you initiative are already added automatically to the decision and you do not need to do it manually. This is what we call the initiative snapshot, which we explain the following section in greater detail.

4. What is the Initiative Snapshot about?

When a Decision is created, Stackgini captures an Initiative Snapshot - a point-in-time copy of the Initiative's evaluation data and its files. This snapshot includes all relevant initiative data like for example, the initiative overview, requirements, solutions evaluated, internal evaluation, provider evaluations and AI evaluations at the moment the Decision was created or , optionally, submitted for approval. This means it is a static snapshot which essentially freezes your initiative data into the context of the decision while keeping the initiative itself editable.

Why it matters:

• It's the factual basis the Decision reasons over. It is the Basis which AI can reason about.
• It keeps your Decision stable and auditable. If the Initiative changes later (new evaluations, new requirements), your already-made Decision is not silently rewritten - it still reflects the data as it stood when you decided.

You'll see "Stackgini AI generated an Initiative Snapshot" logged in the Comments & Activity timeline. 

5. How to use the Decision Assistant

The Decision Assistant is the "What would you like to know? - Ask anything about this Decision" box in the right sidebar. It answers questions grounded in this Decision, the relevant initiative data and all of its documents.

To use it:

1. Type your question in "Ask a question about this Decision…" (e.g. "Has the an ISO-27001 certificate been provided?", "What were the rejected apps not taken?", "What are the critical terms in the Data Processing Agreement provided by the provider").
2. Press Send.
3. Read the answer in the chat panel. You can give 👍 / 👎 feedback on each response and ask follow-up questions.

It's useful for quickly understanding a Decision someone else wrote, sanity-checking your own rationale, or preparing for an approval discussion.

6. Submitting a Decision for approval

When the Decision is ready:

1. Make sure all required fields (marked *) are filled — including each affected application's rationale. The Submit for approval button stays disabled until everything required is complete.
2. Review your approvers and groups in the APPROVAL section.
3. Click Submit for approval.

The Decision moves from Draft to Pending Approval, and the configured approvers/groups are asked to cast their vote. From here the document is locked for editing while review is in progress.

Heads-up: Submitting notifies the configured approvers via email, so make sure the content and the approver list are right before you submit. 

7. Tracking the status of your Decision

Every Decision has a status, shown as a badge on the Decision and in the top-level Decisions list:

Where to track:

• APPROVAL section - shows each approver/group's state (e.g. Upcoming, Skipped) so you can see who still needs to act.
• Comments & Activity tab - a full timeline of everything that happened (AI auto-fill, edits, comments, approvals), grouped into iterations.

8. Working on change requests, editing, or cancelling a Decision

Responding to change requests. If an approver returns the Decision as Changes Requested, you will see their comments in the decision. If you want to make material changes to the decision you will need to cancel the decision and interrupt the approval process. Then make the changes and afterwards Submit for approval again. The activity timeline records each iteration so reviewers can see what changed between rounds.

Editing. A Decision is freely editable while in Draft. Once it's in approval, editing is restricted - return it to Draft (where allowed) or work through the change-request cycle to make further edits.

Commenting. Use the comment box on the Comments & Activity tab to discuss the Decision with collaborators and approvers. Type @ to mention and notify someone. They will receive an email as soon as you used @ mention feature.

Cancelling / reopening. A Decision that's no longer being pursued can be Cancelled. A Cancelled Decision is read-only, but you can use Return to Draft to reopen it for further work, for example to make the requested changes from the approvers.

Deleting. Deletion is only possible while in Draft - open the ⋮ More actions menu and choose Delete Decision. (For Decisions that aren't drafts, the option is disabled, with the note "Only Draft Decisions can be deleted.") If you need to remove a non-draft Decision, return it to Draft first, or Cancel it instead.

Exporting. Use Download (top of the Decision) to export the Decision Documentation - handy for sharing or for audit records.

9. FAQ

Why is the "Decide on" button greyed out? The Initiative has no application in the shortlist / analysis view available to decide on yet. Add at least one application to the Initiative's shortlist/analysis, then try again.

Where do the sections come from? From the Decision Template you chose. Templates - and which fields are required - are set up by your administrators.

Do I have to write everything myself? No. The AI drafts the template fields for you from the Initiative data when the Decision is created, and you can re-draft any section with the Generate button. You then review and edit.

What if the AI says it doesn't have enough information? That usually means the Initiative is still being evaluated or the relevant context to fill the respective section is missing. Either complete the evaluation in the Initiative or add the required files, or fill the field in manually.

Why can't I submit for approval? A required field (marked *) is still empty - for example a content section or an application's rationale. Complete all required fields and the Submit for approval button will enable.

Will editing the Initiative later change my Decision? No. Your Decision is based on the Initiative Snapshot taken when it was created, so it stays stable even if the Initiative changes afterward. You can, however, update the initiative snapshot before submitting for approval.

Who can edit or manage a Decision? The Owner (and Collaborators they add) author it. Owners can also manage collaborators and approvers, change the Decision's state, and delete it (in Draft).

What does "1 approval needed · 1 rejection allowed" mean? Those are the group's rules: how many approvals are needed for the group to pass, and how many rejections will block it. Approvals resolve first-to-threshold - once the bar is hit, remaining votes in that group are skipped.

Can I see who is in an approval group? Yes - click the group row in the APPROVAL section to expand it and list its members.

Can I attach files? Yes - use the Documents tab → Upload document. Uploaded files also help the Decision Assistant answer questions.

Can I delete a Decision I no longer need? Only while it's a Draft (⋮ More actions → Delete Decision). Otherwise, Cancel it, or Return to Draft first and then delete.