The Future Isn’t Coming — It’s Already Here

Several leading AI and research companies are actively exploring the deployment of AI-powered “employees” within enterprise environments.
These aren’t your typical chatbots — they’re fully autonomous agents with persistent memory, role-based access, credentials, and the ability to perform tasks independently, often with system-level permissions.

Now ask yourself: Is your risk program ready to onboard a non-human employee?

Why This Matters for GRC

Let’s cut through the hype and get real about what this means for Governance, Risk, and Compliance.

1. Identity Management Just Got Complicated

We’ve built IAM programs for people.
Now, we need to make room for non-humans.
These agents will have access to production systems, credentials, and sensitive data — likely without the same oversight or understanding of context.

2. Policy Enforcement at Machine Speed

AI agents don’t stop to ask for clarification.
If a policy is vague, they may interpret it however their model allows.
That means your control gaps are about to be exploited faster than ever.

3. Accountability in a Non-Human World

If an AI pushes bad code or approves a risky transaction, who takes the hit?
We’ve never had to assign accountability to a language model before — but we’re about to.

4. Security Teams Are Already Stretched

Credential sprawl, MFA fatigue, alert overload — we’re drowning.
Adding AI accounts with elevated access could push already-overloaded teams past the edge.

Your Move: Start Preparing Now

Here’s what GRC teams should be doing today:

  • Reassess IAM policies to include machine identities and define lifecycle governance.
  • Monitor AI activity like privileged users — because that’s what they are.
  • Simulate scenarios where an AI account fails, misbehaves, or gets compromised.
  • Partner with engineering and product early — you don’t want to learn about AI agents during your next audit.

Real World Application: Let’s Learn From Each Other

If your organization is already testing AI agents — or even just thinking about it — what are you doing to prepare from a risk standpoint?

  • Are you building control frameworks specific to non-human actors?
  • Have you discussed this at your audit committee or board level?
  • Are you partnering with your IAM and automation teams now?

Your move.
I’d love to hear what others think about this shift and where we must step up as a GRC community before these agents appear in our systems.