Boardroom’s next governance challenge: AI agents

For decades, corporate governance rested on a simple assumption: people make decisions, systems execute them.

That assumption is rapidly becoming outdated.

Across industries, enterprises are deploying autonomous AI agents capable of accessing databases, interacting with customers, processing transactions and making operational decisions with minimal human intervention. These systems are no longer passive software tools. They are emerging as active participants in business processes, often operating with levels of access and influence that rival senior employees.