Software Giants Shift Focus: From AI Copilots to Autonomous Agents

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Software Giants Shift Focus: From AI Copilots to Autonomous Agents

The world’s leading software companies are making a strong case for AI agents, as reported by the Financial Times on Sunday (Sept. 22). Microsoft, Salesforce, and Workday have all recently made AI agents central to their AI strategies, with Oracle and ServiceNow promoting the concept at recent industry events.

While AI copilots—popularized by Microsoft as AI assistants—have gained traction following the success of ChatGPT, AI agents are designed to take a step further. According to PYMNTS, AI agents are advanced software programs capable of autonomously completing tasks or providing services for individuals or businesses, playing a growing role in sectors like commerce, where they handle complex operations such as managing supply chains or booking travel.

If the industry is correct, this shift from copilots to agents could trigger a "more disruptive phase" in the evolution of generative AI, affecting both workers and technology firms, the FT reported. However, there’s still skepticism about how this will play out. Jim Tierney, a growth stock investor at AllianceBernstein, told the FT that while AI agents show potential, the market is still waiting for proof, especially regarding how these innovations will generate revenue.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff expressed a similar view, telling the FT that Microsoft’s AI strategy lacks traction. He criticized Microsoft for misleading customers, arguing that businesses shouldn't need to repeatedly train their AI models. Instead, Benioff emphasized that Salesforce integrates AI directly into its platform.

In related developments, PYMNTS reported on Skyfire, a startup aiming to solve a key challenge for AI agents: independently managing financial transactions. Skyfire’s platform allows AI agents to hold funds, send and receive payments, and conduct financial transactions with both humans and other AI systems. Skyfire’s CEO Amir Sarhangi stated that the next major wave of customers for many companies will likely be AI agents rather than human beings, with agents increasingly handling routine tasks on behalf of users.

AI Agents Offer Turnkey Solution for Clients, Says Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff

Salesforce Inc. CEO Marc Benioff stated that the company’s newly launched AI software offers a comprehensive solution for business customers eager to leverage emerging AI technology. During an interview with Bloomberg Television at the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, Benioff addressed the misconception that clients need to develop their own AI systems. “They think they have to DIY their AI, but that’s not true,” he said, adding that this realization has surprised many clients but is an exciting development for Salesforce.

Recently, Salesforce shifted its AI strategy to focus on creating AI “agents” capable of performing specific tasks, such as customer service or scheduling, without human oversight. Previously, the company had concentrated on generative AI assistants that required user input.

Benioff emphasized Salesforce’s ambitious goal of deploying one billion AI agents with its customers over the next year. He acknowledged that these agents might replace some workers, as they allow companies to scale their workforce during peak periods without the need to hire more full-time or gig employees.

Following these announcements, Salesforce shares jumped 5.4% to close at $265.99 on Thursday, marking the largest single-day increase in nearly four months. Despite this surge, the stock has lagged behind many of its tech counterparts, with a modest 1.1% gain for the year.

Benioff also addressed reports of Walt Disney Co. potentially discontinuing Salesforce’s Slack tool after a hacking incident led to a massive leak of employee messages. While Benioff assured that Salesforce’s security is "rock-solid," he stressed that customers must also take preventive measures to avoid breaches, such as safeguarding against phishing attacks.

Gartner Report: Strategies to Secure AI Agents from Emerging Threats

Artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing rapidly, with AI agents emerging as a powerful and transformative technology. These agents, fueled by advanced models from companies like OpenAI and Microsoft, are being incorporated into various enterprise products, providing notable benefits in automation and efficiency. However, AI agents also introduce new risks and security challenges that organizations must address proactively.

Understanding the Risks of AI Agents

AI agents represent a significant shift in how AI interacts with digital and physical environments. These agents can operate autonomously or semi-autonomously, making decisions and completing tasks with minimal human oversight. While this opens up new possibilities, it also greatly expands the potential for security threats.

Historically, AI-related risks were limited to the inputs, processing, and outputs of models, along with vulnerabilities in the surrounding software layers. However, AI agents introduce risks that go beyond these areas. The complex and often hidden chain of actions initiated by AI agents can be difficult for human operators to monitor, creating serious security concerns.

One of the major risks involves data exposure or exfiltration, which can occur at any stage of agent-driven operations. AI agents, whether benign or malicious, can also overwhelm system resources, leading to denial-of-service scenarios. More concerning is the possibility of unauthorized or malicious actions performed by misguided agents, including the risk of "agent hijacking" by external actors.

Additional risks arise from coding errors within the agents, which could lead to unintended data breaches, and the use of third-party code, which introduces supply chain vulnerabilities. Hard-coded credentials, commonly used in low-code or no-code environments, can exacerbate access management issues, making it easier for attackers to exploit these agents for harmful purposes.

Mitigating AI Agent Risks

To manage these risks, organizations need to implement strong controls. The first step is to create a comprehensive map of all AI agent activities, processes, connections, data exposures, and information flows. This visibility is essential for detecting anomalies and ensuring agent behavior aligns with security policies. Maintaining an immutable audit trail of agent interactions is also crucial for accountability and traceability.

A detailed dashboard should be employed to track the usage of AI agents, their performance in relation to company policies, and their compliance with security, privacy, and legal standards. This dashboard should be integrated with the organization's existing identity and access management (IAM) systems to enforce least-privilege access and prevent unauthorized agent activities.

Once visibility is established, mechanisms should be set up to detect and flag any abnormal or policy-violating behaviors. Establishing baseline agent behaviors allows for the identification of outlier activities, which can be addressed through automatic real-time responses.

Given the speed and scale of AI agent interactions, human oversight alone is insufficient. Automated tools must be implemented to suspend and remediate rogue actions, with unresolved issues escalated to human operators for further review.

Finally, applying real-time remediation to detected anomalies is critical. This could involve actions such as redacting sensitive data, enforcing least-privilege access, and blocking access when violations are identified. Organizations should also maintain deny lists of files or threat indicators that AI agents are prohibited from accessing. Continuous monitoring and feedback loops are needed to correct any unintended actions resulting from agent errors.

As AI agents become more integrated into enterprise environments, the accompanying risks and security threats must not be overlooked. Organizations should educate themselves on these new dangers and put robust controls in place to mitigate them. By mapping AI agent activities, flagging anomalies, and applying real-time remediation, businesses can take advantage of AI agents while maintaining strong security. In this rapidly changing landscape, proactive risk management is essential.

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