Technical overview / AI systems

Document: VT-AIO-01Revision: 1.0 Reference architecture

AI Orchestration Architecture

A control and translation layer that mediates between interface intent, AI reasoning, and authoritative application services.

01

System topology

Logical boundaries and permitted communication paths

AI integration architecture Governed integration

User Interface

Where people and systems express intent

Natural languageEventsUser contextAuthentication

Orchestration & Translation Layer

A governed control plane between interface, model, and application

Reasoning & planningModel routingPolicy & permissionsSchema translationTool selectionDecision traces

Interprets context, chooses models and tools, enforces policy, translates schemas, validates outputs, and records decisions—coordinating the model and your application from one layer.

AI Model

A governed endpoint for AI reasoning and generation

LLMsSpecialized modelsEmbeddingsValidation

Your Application

Your existing system stays authoritative

APIsDataBusiness logicProduct state
Communication is bidirectional. The orchestration layer translates both ways: model output becomes application-safe actions, and application state informs the next model request.
Figure 1 — Logical topology. Lines denote mediated, bidirectional communication rather than direct state ownership.
02

Orchestration layer internals

Component flow inside the governed intermediary

The orchestration and translation layer sits between the interface, the model, and the application. It is responsible for intake, authorization, planning, routing, schema validation, and traceable execution. A detailed component-level breakdown follows in Figure 2.

03

Request lifecycle

Reference execution path from intent to recorded result

  1. 01

    Normalize

    Interface input is converted into a typed request with identity and runtime context.

  2. 02

    Authorize

    Policy evaluates the caller, requested capability, data scope, and execution limits.

  3. 03

    Route

    The control plane selects an approved model and constructs the minimum required context.

  4. 04

    Translate

    Model output is mapped to an application-safe command that conforms to the target schema.

  5. 05

    Validate

    The proposed action is checked before the application accepts or rejects execution.

  6. 06

    Record

    Inputs, decisions, tool calls, outcomes, and failures are attached to one trace.

04

Responsibility matrix

Ownership and prohibited authority by system boundary

User Interface

Owns

Intent, identity, interaction state

Not responsible for

Execute backend operations or enforce business rules

Orchestration & Translation

Owns

Policy, routing, schemas, tools, traces

Not responsible for

Store the permanent source of truth for product data

AI Model

Owns

Reasoning and generation within supplied context

Not responsible for

Write directly to application state or databases

Your Application

Owns

APIs, business rules, data, final state

Not responsible for

Act on raw model output without policy and validation checks

05

Control plane

Controls applied independently of model provider

Identity propagation

User and service identity remain attached to every request and capability check.

Policy enforcement

Tools and data are exposed by explicit allowlists, permissions, and execution limits.

Schema validation

Typed boundaries reject malformed inputs and unsupported model outputs before execution.

Decision tracing

Routing, model responses, tool calls, application results, and failures share one trace.

Failure behavior: denied, malformed, timed-out, or unsupported operations fail closed and return a structured result to the interface.

06

Orchestration component network

Internal components and data flow inside the governed intermediary

Orchestration component network Policy-bound execution

Context Intake

Assembles a typed request from intent, identity, and runtime state

IntentIdentityContext

Policy & Permissions

Determines which data, tools, and actions the request may access

AuthorizationData scopeLimits

Reasoning & Planning

Breaks the approved request into controlled execution steps

PlanDependenciesFallbacks

Model & Tool Routing

Selects approved endpoints for each step in the plan

Provider routingTool selectionContext limits

Model Gateway

Builds the model request and normalizes the response

PromptsModelsResponses

Capability Gateway

Invokes only the application capabilities allowed by policy

APIsFunctionsData access

Schema Translation & Validation

Converts outputs into typed commands and rejects invalid results

Schema mappingValidationSafe commands

Execution & Decision Trace

Returns the validated result and records how the decision was made

Execution resultAudit traceFailure state
Every path crosses the same controls. Authorization occurs before routing; translation and validation occur before execution is accepted.
Figure 2 — Internal component topology. Branches represent controlled access to model and application capabilities.