Section 11 · Pricing, Proposals & Closing
11.6Autonomous proposal sending
Partly built — finishing in Phase 1- No.
- 11.6
- DMA's reference
- Decision Book p.25
- Phase
- Phase 1
- Autonomy
- L3 · Act within rules
- DMA's decision
- Yes
◆ Amended in v3 of the book.
What DMA asked for · Decision Book p.25
Send a proposal to a qualified prospect without a person's approval by default, as long as it stays within the approved pricing, scope, proof and policy rules.
Why it matters to DMA: Without it, AI-led closing still waits on a person for the last step. Non-standard terms, new deal sizes, low confidence and anything without precedent still go to Josh.
In our words, from DMA's Product Decision Book v3, page 25.
How we do it
- What runs: every proposal is priced by code from the approved card, checked line by line, with its claims checked, and rendered as a PDF. Sending uses a fixed covering note and the approved PDF, which the send governor hash-checks and attaches after every normal prospect check (consent, suppression, limits).
- Today a person approves each proposal and clicks Send; a discount above the band goes to Josh only.
- To finish for Phase 1: a rule in DMA's rules that lets a proposal inside every guardrail (standard package, discount within the band, a deal-size tier already seen, all checks passed) go out on its own, with the rest escalated to Josh and a sample of sent proposals reviewed afterwards.
Already in place
- Code pricing, line checks, claims and date checks, and the PDF.
- Sending through the governor, with the PDF hash-checked against the approval.
- Josh-only approval above the discount band.
What the later phase adds
- A guardrail rule that sends in-bounds proposals without a person.
- Post-send sampling for review.
The flow
It plays on its own while it's on screen; hover or use the controls to pause or step through.
A checked proposal
Priced by code, claims and dates checked.
- Stored data
- Rule in code
- Person
Where the data goes
The same six stages on every page. Nothing reaches Nutshell except through the write gate.
- 1Proposal
Source
The checked proposal and PDF.
- 2Sync
Copies Nutshell changes into the bridge database
Not involved.
- 3Bridge database
A copy of the CRM data, plus what the AI works out
The proposal, its approval and when it was sent.
- 4AI
Claude models, only through DMA's own gateway
Wrote the words earlier; the send uses a fixed note.
- 5Write gate
The only way back into Nutshell: checked, approved when needed, sent once
Records the send on the deal.
- 6Nutshell
The system of record
The deal shows the proposal sent.
The tables behind it
Drawn from the POC's database catalogue: structure only, no data.
PK primary keyFK reference the database enforces (solid line)ID reference kept by id (dashed line)
| Table | What it holds | Columns |
|---|---|---|
| ctrl.policy_rules | DMA's rules as approved versions, including the rate card and the discount band. | 21 |
| ai.proposals | Each proposal: lines priced by code, totals, discount, the checks it passed and its approval. | 36 |
| ctrl.mail_log | The send, with its result. | 18 |
How the tables connect (5)
| Column | Points to | Kept by |
|---|---|---|
| ctrl.policy_rules.approval_id | ctrl.approvals | The application (by id) |
| ai.proposals.supersedes_id | ai.proposals | The database (foreign key) |
| ai.proposals.approval_id | ctrl.approvals | The database (foreign key) |
| ctrl.mail_log.approval_id | ctrl.approvals | The application (by id) |
| ctrl.mail_log.decision_id | ctrl.decision_log | The application (by id) |
Worked example
Synthetic demo data: every name, business and number is made up.
How the guardrails would sort three sample proposals.
Who sends
| Proposal | Guardrails | Sent by |
|---|---|---|
| Local Growth, 3 locations, 5% off | Standard package, within the band, known size | Automatically (Phase 1 finish) |
| Local Growth, 15% off | Above the discount band | Josh |
| Custom 24-month enterprise term | Non-standard terms | Josh |
In the running POC
Sample: a proposal waiting for Josh in Approvals.sample data
- 1Only Josh can approve this one.
- 2The proposal PDF, as it would be sent.
Dashboard · Approvals, a proposal waiting for Josh. Captured from the running POC on September 25, 2026; synthetic data.
See it live
Opens the exact screen in the running POC, in a new tab.
| Open | Where | What to try |
|---|---|---|
| Approvals | DMA AI dashboard | Proposals and who may approve them. |
Status
Partly built — finishing in Phase 1. The parts run in the POC today; the rule that joins them is being finished for Phase 1.