The Hidden Costs of Outsourcing Judgement to AI Suppliers: Accountability Lessons from Private Military Contractors – Plus a Diagnostic Checklist for Spotting Entrenchment

Digital Article

Shefali V. Patil, Tinglong Dai, Christopher G. Myers
California Management Review Insights, 2026

Cite

APA Click to copy
Patil, S. V., Dai, T., & Myers, C. G. (2026). The Hidden Costs of Outsourcing Judgement to AI Suppliers: Accountability Lessons from Private Military Contractors – Plus a Diagnostic Checklist for Spotting Entrenchment. California Management Review Insights.

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Patil, Shefali V., Tinglong Dai, and Christopher G. Myers. “The Hidden Costs of Outsourcing Judgement to AI Suppliers: Accountability Lessons from Private Military Contractors – Plus a Diagnostic Checklist for Spotting Entrenchment.” California Management Review Insights (2026).

MLA Click to copy
Patil, Shefali V., et al. “The Hidden Costs of Outsourcing Judgement to AI Suppliers: Accountability Lessons from Private Military Contractors – Plus a Diagnostic Checklist for Spotting Entrenchment.” California Management Review Insights, 2026.

BibTeX Click to copy

@article{patil2026a,
  title = {The Hidden Costs of Outsourcing Judgement to AI Suppliers: Accountability Lessons from Private Military Contractors – Plus a Diagnostic Checklist for Spotting Entrenchment},
  year = {2026},
  journal = {California Management Review Insights},
  author = {Patil, Shefali V. and Dai, Tinglong and Myers, Christopher G.}
}

Organizations are increasingly outsourcing critical judgment to AI suppliers, mirroring the historical trajectory of Private Military Contractors (PMCs) that led to structural dependency and accountability loss. This article identifies the “Supplier Entrenchment Spiral,” a three-phase psychological process—superhumanization, moral disengagement, and normalization—that embeds vendors into the fabric of organizational decision-making. Using the case of Epic’s sepsis detection model, the authors illustrate how AI overreliance can degrade expert judgment and obscure liability. To prevent irreversible entrenchment, the provided diagnostic checklist can be used to identify psychological red flags and reclaim internal oversight.