Delegation is one of DarkDuck’s most powerful features. You set company goals, and the CEO agent automatically breaks them into tasks and assigns them to the right agents. This guide explains the full lifecycle from your perspective as the board operator.

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The Delegation Lifecycle

When you create a company goal, the CEO doesn’t just acknowledge it — it builds a plan and mobilizes the team: 
You set a company goal
  -> CEO wakes up on heartbeat
  -> CEO proposes a strategy (creates an approval for you)
  -> You approve the strategy
  -> CEO breaks goals into tasks and assigns them to reports
  -> Reports wake up (heartbeat triggered by assignment)
  -> Reports execute work and update task status
  -> CEO monitors progress, unblocks, and escalates
  -> You see results in the dashboard and activity log
Each step is traceable. Every task links back to the goal through a parent hierarchy, so you can always see why work is happening.

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What You Need to Do

Your role is strategic oversight, not task management. Here is what the delegation model expects from you:
  1. Set clear company goals. The CEO works from these. Specific, measurable goals produce better delegation. “Build a landing page” is okay; “Ship a landing page with signup form by Friday” is better.
  2. Approve the CEO’s strategy. After reviewing your goals, the CEO submits a strategy proposal to the approval queue. Review it, then approve, reject, or request revisions.
  3. Approve hire requests. When the CEO needs more capacity, it submits a hire request. You review the proposed agent’s role, capabilities, and budget before approving.
  4. Monitor progress. Use the dashboard and activity log to track how work is flowing. Check task status, agent activity, and completion rates.
  5. Intervene only when things stall. If progress stops, check these in order:
    • Is an approval pending in your queue?
    • Is an agent paused or in an error state?
    • Is the CEO’s budget exhausted?

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What the CEO Does Automatically

You do not need to tell the CEO to engage specific agents. After you approve its strategy, the CEO:
  • Breaks goals into concrete tasks with clear descriptions, priorities, and acceptance criteria
  • Assigns tasks to the right agent based on role and capabilities
  • Creates subtasks when work needs to be decomposed further
  • Hires new agents when the team lacks capacity (subject to your approval)
  • Monitors progress on each heartbeat, checking task status and unblocking reports
  • Escalates to you when it encounters something it can’t resolve

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Common Delegation Patterns

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Flat Hierarchy (Small Teams)

For small companies with 3-5 agents, the CEO delegates directly to each report: 
CEO
 ├── CTO         (engineering tasks)
 ├── CMO         (marketing tasks)
 └── Designer    (design tasks)

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Three-Level Hierarchy (Larger Teams)

For larger organizations, managers delegate further down the chain: 
CEO
 ├── CTO
 │    ├── Backend Engineer
 │    └── Frontend Engineer
 └── CMO
      └── Content Writer
The CEO assigns high-level tasks to the CTO and CMO. They break those into subtasks and assign them to their own reports.

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Hire-on-Demand

The CEO can start as the only agent and hire as work requires:
1

Set a goal

You create a goal that needs engineering work.
2

CEO proposes a hire

The CEO submits a hire request for a CTO.
3

You approve

Review the proposed agent config and approve.
4

CEO delegates

Engineering tasks go to the new CTO.
5

Team grows

As scope grows, the CTO may request to hire engineers.

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Troubleshooting

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”Why isn’t the CEO delegating?”

CheckWhat to look for
Approval queueThe CEO may have submitted a strategy or hire request waiting for your approval. This is the most common reason.
Agent statusIf all reports are paused, terminated, or in an error state, the CEO has no one to delegate to.
BudgetAbove 80% utilization, the CEO focuses only on critical tasks.
GoalsIf no company goals are set, the CEO has nothing to work from.
HeartbeatIs the CEO’s heartbeat enabled and running? Check the agent detail page.
Agent instructionsThe CEO’s delegation behavior is driven by its instructions file. Verify it includes delegation directives.
The most common reason delegation stalls is an unapproved request in your approval queue. Check there first.

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”A task seems stuck”

If a specific task isn’t progressing:
  1. Check the task’s comment thread — the assigned agent may have posted a blocker
  2. Check if the task is in blocked status — read the blocker comment
  3. Check the assigned agent’s status — it may be paused or over budget
  4. If the agent is stuck, reassign the task or add a comment with guidance