Introducing policy-based approvals

Today we’re launching policy-based approvals in Metrivo. Write a rule once in plain language, and the agent applies it to every matching request, logs every decision and only asks a person when a request falls outside the rule.

Why we built it

When we looked at where requests waited longest, approvals stood out. Not the hard ones, but the routine ones: the standard laptop, the renewal for a tool everyone already uses, the conference ticket within budget. Nearly all of them were approved, and nearly all of them waited hours or days for someone to click yes.

Policy-based approvals let those requests through instantly, while sending the unusual ones to the right person with everything they need to decide.

How it works

1. Write the rule. Describe it the way you’d explain it to a new teammate: “Approve software renewals under $2,000 for vendors on our approved list.”

2. Check it against history. Metrivo replays the rule against your past requests and shows which ones it would have approved, so you can tune it before it goes live.

3. Turn it on. Matching requests are approved automatically, the requester is told straight away and the budget owner gets a summary.

4. Handle exceptions. Anything outside the rule goes to a named approver as a single, clear request in Slack.

Built for audits from day one

Every automatic approval links to the rule that made it and the version of that rule that was live at the time. Every change to a rule records who made it and who signed it off. When finance or an auditor asks why a request was approved, the answer is one click away instead of buried in a thread.

People stay in charge

Policies never approve their own exceptions. If a request doesn’t clearly match a rule, the agent asks. Admins can pause any policy instantly, and every decision the agent makes can be reviewed after the fact.

What early teams are seeing

During the beta, teams moved most of their routine approvals onto policies within a few weeks. Approvers told us the biggest change wasn’t the time saved on clicking yes. It was that the requests they did see were the ones that genuinely needed their judgment.

Getting started

Policy-based approvals are available today. Start with one request type you approve all the time, write the rule, replay it against last month’s requests and switch it on. Most teams have their first policy live in under an hour.

The rule of thumb

If you approve the same thing the same way every time, write it down once and let the policy do the clicking.