Service Level Objective (SLO)

A service level objective (SLO) is a specific, measurable target for a service’s performance — such as 99.9% availability or a latency ceiling — that a team commits to meeting.

SLOs make reliability concrete and are the internal targets behind the external promises in a service level agreement; missing them signals where to invest.

For AI agents, SLOs on latency, uptime, and outcome quality turn vague reliability claims into commitments that can be monitored and enforced.