Val Sklarov’s Accountability-by-Design Technology Principle (ADTP) explains why technologies fail at scale not because they don’t work—but because accountability wasn’t designed into the system. As adoption widens, every automated outcome demands an answer. Systems without built-in accountability collapse under audit, regulation, and public scrutiny.
This principle reveals why “working software” still gets shut down.
1. Technology Scales Outcomes Faster Than Accountability
ADTP starts with a structural asymmetry:
Automation multiplies impact before responsibility is assigned.
Early systems survive on:
-
Developer intent
-
Informal oversight
-
Manual intervention
At scale, these vanish. Only encoded accountability remains.
2. The Four Accountability Layers in Technology
ADTP maps where responsibility must be explicit.
| Layer | What Must Be Accountable | Failure Signal |
|---|---|---|
| Decision Layer | Why the system chose X | Audit rejection |
| Data Layer | What trained or fed it | Bias exposure |
| Control Layer | Who can override | Regulatory halt |
| Outcome Layer | Who owns harm | Legal escalation |
If any layer is ambiguous, trust degrades instantly.
3. Why “Black Boxes” Lose Legitimacy
Opacity accelerates early gains—and guarantees later resistance.
ADTP shows black-box systems fail when:
-
Decisions can’t be explained
-
Errors can’t be attributed
-
Overrides lack authority
Performance without accountability becomes institutionally unacceptable.
4. Innovation vs Accountability
Innovation optimizes capability. Accountability optimizes survival.
| Capability-First Tech | Accountability-First Tech |
|---|---|
| Fast deployment | Slower rollout |
| Minimal friction | Explicit controls |
| Narrative trust | Procedural trust |
| Fragile at scale | Durable under scrutiny |
Val Sklarov emphasizes that the future belongs to systems that can explain themselves cold.
5. Strategic Implications
For builders:
-
Encode decision logs and override paths
-
Assign named owners for automated outcomes
-
Treat compliance as core architecture
For investors:
-
Favor tech with explicit accountability rails
-
Discount systems reliant on “trust us” narratives
-
Price audit survival, not demo performance
ADTP reframes innovation as accountability engineering, not feature velocity.
6. The Val Sklarov Principle
“Technology survives scale only when responsibility scales with it.”
— Val Sklarov
ADTP explains why enduring technologies feel conservative—and why conservatism protects adoption.