Question 6
Domain 2 — AI Operations, Lifecycle, and Control EnvironmentWhich lifecycle phase should formally define success criteria, risk tier classification, and business sign-off BEFORE any data is collected or resources committed?
Correct answer: C
Explanation
Problem definition and scoping is the phase where the use case is "formally assessed and approved" before work begins. At this stage, teams define success criteria, assign the risk tier, and obtain business sign-off so no data is collected or resources committed without approval.
Why each option is right or wrong
A. Model validation — where performance benchmarks are confirmed
B. Feature engineering — where data transformations are designed
C. Problem definition and scoping — where the use case is formally assessed and approved
The governing control point is the pre-initiation approval gate in the lifecycle: before any collection or expenditure, the use case must be assessed, documented, and signed off so the organization can set the success criteria and classify the risk tier up front. In practice, this is the scoping stage, because it is the only phase that occurs before data handling begins and before resources are committed; later phases assume those approvals already exist.
D. Deployment — where rollback plans are documented