APPLY WHAT THE DECISION REQUIRES
Core is the baseline. Profiles add evidence obligations only when the scope makes them material.
Every DACS decision scope begins with Core Decision-Scope controls. Extended profiles are added when governed meaning, material relationships, or AI context can change the result or what happens next.
Profiles are applicability choices, not maturity levels. A decision may require one extended profile, several, or none.
THE SELECTION RULE
Ask what can materially change the decision.
If meaning can change it, examine Taxonomy. If relationships can change it, examine Ontology. If AI can change it, examine AI Context.
Add the obligation because the scope requires it, not because more controls look more complete.
PROFILE SELECTOR
One baseline. Three materiality tests.
Core establishes the decision-scope control boundary. Extended profiles add requirements only where additional semantic, relationship, or AI evidence is material.
Core Decision-Scope
APPLIES WHEN
Every DACS decision scope.
ESTABLISHES
Whether the use is bounded, evidenced, controlled, gated, reconstructable, and represented in a structured record.
WHEN MEANING IS MATERIAL
Extended Taxonomy
Add when concepts, terms, labels, classifications, identifiers, semantic grain, or boundaries can materially change the decision. The profile connects governed meaning to the physical evidence that represents it.
WHEN RELATIONSHIPS ARE MATERIAL
Extended Ontology
Add when relationship meaning, endpoints, direction, provenance, constraints, or permitted traversal paths can materially change the decision. The profile connects governed relationship meaning to inspectable evidence.
WHEN AI IS MATERIAL
AI Context Contract
Add when AI, machine inference, generated evidence, recommendations, agents, or automated actions materially affect the path. The profile binds material AI behavior to governed context, authority, evidence, and readiness conditions.
Extended profiles are additive. A scope may require Taxonomy, Ontology, and AI Context together when all three conditions are material.
NOT A MATURITY LADDER
More profiles do not mean a better or more advanced implementation.
A simple decision path may need only Core. A narrow AI-assisted use may need Core plus AI Context. A relationship-heavy analytical decision may require Core, Taxonomy, and Ontology without AI.
The correct profile set is the smallest set that covers what can materially change the decision.
THREE QUESTIONS
Could different meaning change the result?
Definitions, classifications, identifiers, or grain point toward Extended Taxonomy.
Could a different relationship path change the result?
Endpoints, direction, constraints, or traversal paths point toward Extended Ontology.
Could AI materially change what happens next?
Generated, inferred, recommended, or agentic behavior points toward AI Context Contract.
ILLUSTRATIVE STACK
One decision can legitimately require all four.
An AI-assisted customer eligibility recommendation may depend on customer identity, governed eligibility classifications, household or account relationships, and an AI-generated recommendation.
The profiles combine because the decision requires them, not because the organization is trying to reach a higher level.
WHY EACH PROFILE APPLIES
Core Decision-Scope: bounds the decision, evidence, controls, Gate, authority, and record.
Extended Taxonomy: governs the material identity concepts, eligibility meaning, labels, classifications, and semantic boundaries.
Extended Ontology: governs the account, household, customer, or other relationship paths that materially influence the result.
AI Context Contract: governs material AI inputs, generated outputs, authority, drift, and context conditions.
APPLICABILITY MUST BE EXPLICIT
Not Applicable is a boundary statement, not a successful result.
When a profile or control does not apply, record why it falls outside the stated decision scope. That preserves the boundary and prevents an omitted evidence obligation from being mistaken for Pass.
Applicability determines what must be tested. Control results record what the evidence proved.
GO TO THE NORMATIVE SOURCE
The Specification owns the formal requirements.
This page explains when each profile becomes relevant. Use the governed DACS Specification for formal applicability conditions, controls, evidence obligations, and conformance language.
See where profiles fit operationally.
The DACS Operating Model shows where applicability, control evaluation, Gate decisions, and preserved records fit together.