Executive Briefing · CEOs

CEO Guide to AI Agents

An agent becomes materially different from a chatbot when it can use tools, retain state or change business systems. Autonomy should therefore follow evidence and control.

Questions leaders should ask

  1. 1.Exactly what actions can the agent take without approval?
  2. 2.Which credentials and systems does it use, and are permissions narrower than the human user's?
  3. 3.What stops loops, excessive spend or repeated actions?
  4. 4.Which actions are irreversible or externally consequential?
  5. 5.Can untrusted email, documents or websites manipulate the agent's behaviour?
  6. 6.Can we reconstruct what the agent did and why an action was permitted?

Practical next actions

  • • Start with narrow tools and deterministic server-side authorisation.
  • • Set time, spend, iteration and tool-call limits.
  • • Require approval for payments, deletion, publication, privilege changes and contractual commitments.
  • • Treat retrieved/web/email content as untrusted data.
  • • Use idempotency, circuit breakers and a tested kill/disable path.

This briefing is general decision-support material, not legal, regulatory, financial or investment advice. Apply sector-specific obligations and evidence before acting.

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