diff --git a/backend/app/api/endpoints/session_handoffs.py b/backend/app/api/endpoints/session_handoffs.py
index 2e3ec65f..5e444bd2 100644
--- a/backend/app/api/endpoints/session_handoffs.py
+++ b/backend/app/api/endpoints/session_handoffs.py
@@ -63,6 +63,13 @@ async def create_handoff(
         raise HTTPException(status_code=400, detail=str(e))
 
     await db.commit()
+
+    # Best-effort notification dispatch AFTER commit so we never email about
+    # a rolled-back handoff. Failures are swallowed inside the manager —
+    # handoff creation is authoritative; notifications are advisory.
+    if handoff.intent == "escalate":
+        await manager.dispatch_escalation_notifications(handoff)
+
     return HandoffResponse.model_validate(handoff)
 
 
diff --git a/backend/app/services/handoff_manager.py b/backend/app/services/handoff_manager.py
index c79461ba..fedc8a74 100644
--- a/backend/app/services/handoff_manager.py
+++ b/backend/app/services/handoff_manager.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ Creates handoff snapshots, AI assessments (for escalations), claim workflow,
 and queue queries. Dual-writes to ai_sessions.escalation_package for
 backward compatibility with the existing escalation queue.
 """
+import asyncio
 import logging
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from typing import Any
@@ -12,9 +13,12 @@ from uuid import UUID
 from sqlalchemy import select
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
 
+from app.core.config import settings
+from app.core.email import EmailService
 from app.models.ai_session import AISession
 from app.models.session_branch import SessionBranch
 from app.models.session_handoff import SessionHandoff
+from app.models.user import User
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -87,6 +91,102 @@ class HandoffManager:
         await self.db.flush()
         return handoff
 
+    async def dispatch_escalation_notifications(
+        self, handoff: SessionHandoff
+    ) -> int:
+        """Email engineer-or-admin users in the account about a new escalation.
+
+        Call this AFTER `db.commit()` has succeeded — sending email for a
+        rolled-back handoff is the kind of trust-erosion bug that makes pilot
+        customers stop trusting the tool. Returns the number of recipients
+        successfully emailed (best-effort, not authoritative).
+
+        Failures are logged but never raise: the wedge demo's reliability
+        story is "handoff creation always succeeds; notification is best-effort,"
+        not "handoff creation depends on the email service being up." This is
+        the graceful-degradation regression the eng + codex reviews both
+        flagged as critical.
+
+        Per-channel delivery records (Codex correction on the dead
+        `notification_sent` boolean) are a v1.x story — for now the
+        application logs are the audit trail.
+        """
+        if handoff.intent != "escalate":
+            return 0
+
+        try:
+            recipients = (
+                await self.db.execute(
+                    select(User).where(
+                        User.account_id == handoff.account_id,
+                        User.id != handoff.handed_off_by,
+                        User.account_role.in_(("owner", "admin", "engineer")),
+                        User.is_active.is_(True),
+                        User.deleted_at.is_(None),
+                    )
+                )
+            ).scalars().all()
+
+            if not recipients:
+                logger.info(
+                    "No notification recipients for handoff %s in account %s",
+                    handoff.id,
+                    handoff.account_id,
+                )
+                return 0
+
+            # Pull session for the email subject. Fall back to a generic title
+            # if the session is gone (e.g. cascade delete mid-dispatch).
+            session_result = await self.db.execute(
+                select(AISession).where(AISession.id == handoff.session_id)
+            )
+            session = session_result.scalar_one_or_none()
+            problem = (
+                session.problem_summary if session and session.problem_summary
+                else "an active session"
+            )
+
+            title = f"New escalation: {problem}"
+            notes = (handoff.engineer_notes or "").strip()
+            body = (
+                "A teammate has escalated a session and is asking for help.\n\n"
+                f"Reason: {notes if notes else 'No reason provided.'}\n"
+                f"Priority: {handoff.priority}"
+            )
+            link_url = (
+                f"{settings.FRONTEND_URL.rstrip('/')}/escalations"
+                if settings.FRONTEND_URL
+                else None
+            )
+
+            results = await asyncio.gather(
+                *[
+                    EmailService.send_notification_email(
+                        to_email=r.email,
+                        title=title,
+                        body=body,
+                        link_url=link_url,
+                    )
+                    for r in recipients
+                ],
+                return_exceptions=True,
+            )
+            sent = sum(1 for r in results if r is True)
+            logger.info(
+                "Escalation notifications dispatched for handoff %s: %d/%d recipients",
+                handoff.id,
+                sent,
+                len(recipients),
+            )
+            return sent
+
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception(
+                "Escalation notification dispatch failed for handoff %s",
+                handoff.id,
+            )
+            return 0
+
     async def _generate_snapshot(self, session: AISession) -> dict[str, Any]:
         """Generate a snapshot of the session state at handoff time."""
         snapshot: dict[str, Any] = {
diff --git a/backend/tests/test_handoff_manager.py b/backend/tests/test_handoff_manager.py
index 6e1e530e..fc4644be 100644
--- a/backend/tests/test_handoff_manager.py
+++ b/backend/tests/test_handoff_manager.py
@@ -1,8 +1,12 @@
 """Integration tests for HandoffManager service."""
+from unittest.mock import AsyncMock, patch
+
 import pytest
 from httpx import AsyncClient
 
 from app.models.ai_session import AISession
+from app.models.user import User
+from app.services.handoff_manager import HandoffManager
 
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
@@ -113,3 +117,207 @@ async def test_claim_session(client: AsyncClient, test_user, test_admin, auth_he
 
     await test_db.refresh(session)
     assert session.status == "active"
+
+
+# ─── Notification dispatch ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_dispatch_emails_engineer_recipients_in_account(
+    client: AsyncClient, test_user, auth_headers, test_db
+):
+    """dispatch_escalation_notifications emails every engineer/admin in the
+    account except the escalator."""
+    # Add a second user (engineer role) in the same account.
+    teammate = User(
+        email="teammate@example.com",
+        password_hash="x",
+        name="Teammate",
+        role="engineer",
+        account_id=test_user["user_data"]["account_id"],
+        account_role="engineer",
+    )
+    test_db.add(teammate)
+    await test_db.flush()
+
+    # Add a viewer-role user — must NOT receive a notification.
+    viewer = User(
+        email="viewer@example.com",
+        password_hash="x",
+        name="Viewer",
+        role="engineer",
+        account_id=test_user["user_data"]["account_id"],
+        account_role="viewer",
+    )
+    test_db.add(viewer)
+    await test_db.flush()
+
+    session = AISession(
+        user_id=test_user["user_data"]["id"],
+        account_id=test_user["user_data"]["account_id"],
+        session_type="guided",
+        intake_type="free_text",
+        intake_content={"text": "vpn down"},
+        problem_summary="VPN won't connect after Win update",
+        status="active",
+        confidence_tier="discovery",
+        conversation_messages=[],
+    )
+    test_db.add(session)
+    await test_db.commit()
+
+    manager = HandoffManager(test_db)
+    handoff = await manager.create_handoff(
+        session_id=session.id,
+        intent="escalate",
+        engineer_notes="Stuck on auth handshake",
+        user_id=test_user["user_data"]["id"],
+    )
+    await test_db.commit()
+
+    with patch(
+        "app.services.handoff_manager.EmailService.send_notification_email",
+        new=AsyncMock(return_value=True),
+    ) as send:
+        sent = await manager.dispatch_escalation_notifications(handoff)
+
+    assert sent == 1  # only the engineer-role teammate
+    recipients = {call.kwargs["to_email"] for call in send.call_args_list}
+    assert recipients == {"teammate@example.com"}
+    assert viewer.email not in recipients
+    assert test_user["email"] not in recipients  # not self-notified
+
+    title = send.call_args_list[0].kwargs["title"]
+    assert "VPN won't connect after Win update" in title
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_dispatch_skipped_for_park_intent(
+    client: AsyncClient, test_user, auth_headers, test_db
+):
+    """park-intent handoffs are private (waiting for client logs etc) — no
+    team-wide email."""
+    session = AISession(
+        user_id=test_user["user_data"]["id"],
+        account_id=test_user["user_data"]["account_id"],
+        session_type="guided",
+        intake_type="free_text",
+        intake_content={"text": "x"},
+        status="active",
+        confidence_tier="discovery",
+        conversation_messages=[],
+    )
+    test_db.add(session)
+    await test_db.commit()
+
+    manager = HandoffManager(test_db)
+    handoff = await manager.create_handoff(
+        session_id=session.id,
+        intent="park",
+        engineer_notes="waiting on customer",
+        user_id=test_user["user_data"]["id"],
+    )
+    await test_db.commit()
+
+    with patch(
+        "app.services.handoff_manager.EmailService.send_notification_email",
+        new=AsyncMock(return_value=True),
+    ) as send:
+        sent = await manager.dispatch_escalation_notifications(handoff)
+
+    assert sent == 0
+    assert send.call_count == 0
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_dispatch_graceful_degradation_when_email_raises(
+    client: AsyncClient, test_user, auth_headers, test_db
+):
+    """If the email service raises (auth misconfig, network, etc.), dispatch
+    must NOT raise. Handoff creation has already committed; emailing is
+    best-effort. Codex-flagged regression."""
+    teammate = User(
+        email="t@example.com",
+        password_hash="x",
+        name="T",
+        role="engineer",
+        account_id=test_user["user_data"]["account_id"],
+        account_role="engineer",
+    )
+    test_db.add(teammate)
+    await test_db.flush()
+
+    session = AISession(
+        user_id=test_user["user_data"]["id"],
+        account_id=test_user["user_data"]["account_id"],
+        session_type="guided",
+        intake_type="free_text",
+        intake_content={"text": "x"},
+        status="active",
+        confidence_tier="discovery",
+        conversation_messages=[],
+    )
+    test_db.add(session)
+    await test_db.commit()
+
+    manager = HandoffManager(test_db)
+    handoff = await manager.create_handoff(
+        session_id=session.id,
+        intent="escalate",
+        engineer_notes="help",
+        user_id=test_user["user_data"]["id"],
+    )
+    await test_db.commit()
+
+    with patch(
+        "app.services.handoff_manager.EmailService.send_notification_email",
+        new=AsyncMock(side_effect=RuntimeError("SMTP down")),
+    ):
+        # Must not raise.
+        sent = await manager.dispatch_escalation_notifications(handoff)
+    assert sent == 0
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_create_handoff_endpoint_dispatches_on_escalate(
+    client: AsyncClient, test_user, auth_headers, test_db
+):
+    """End-to-end: POST /handoff with intent=escalate triggers
+    dispatch_escalation_notifications after commit. Verifies the wiring in
+    the endpoint, not just the manager method."""
+    teammate = User(
+        email="t2@example.com",
+        password_hash="x",
+        name="T2",
+        role="engineer",
+        account_id=test_user["user_data"]["account_id"],
+        account_role="engineer",
+    )
+    test_db.add(teammate)
+    await test_db.commit()
+
+    session = AISession(
+        user_id=test_user["user_data"]["id"],
+        account_id=test_user["user_data"]["account_id"],
+        session_type="guided",
+        intake_type="free_text",
+        intake_content={"text": "x"},
+        status="active",
+        confidence_tier="discovery",
+        conversation_messages=[],
+    )
+    test_db.add(session)
+    await test_db.commit()
+
+    with patch(
+        "app.services.handoff_manager.EmailService.send_notification_email",
+        new=AsyncMock(return_value=True),
+    ) as send:
+        resp = await client.post(
+            f"/api/v1/ai-sessions/{session.id}/handoff",
+            headers=auth_headers,
+            json={"intent": "escalate", "engineer_notes": "Need help"},
+        )
+    assert resp.status_code == 201
+    assert send.call_count == 1
+    assert send.call_args.kwargs["to_email"] == "t2@example.com"