White Paper
Alignment Debt: A Diagnostic Framework for AI-Born Enterprises
Measuring the gap between stated values and operational reality
Future Thesis Lab|Research|October 20, 2025|22 min
Alignment debt is the accumulated gap between an institution's stated values and its actual operational behaviour. Like technical debt, it compounds — each shortcut creating future maintenance burdens. This paper introduces a diagnostic framework for identifying, measuring, and reducing alignment debt in AI-born enterprises.