The phrase describes where a person sits in an automated process. In a human-in-the-loop workflow the AI can gather, match and draft, while decisions and anything that leaves the firm wait for someone with the authority and context to make them.
For professional firms this is how existing duties carry over to AI: a preparer still signs the return, a lawyer still reviews the filing and a clinician still signs off a prior-authorization request. It also contains the impact of AI mistakes, because errors are caught at review rather than after they reach a client.
In MetaWurks, email drafts wait for your approval before anything is sent, and agents flag gaps as "Needs review" for a person to resolve.
General information, not legal or tax advice.