“For decades, governance focused on controlling who could access a system,” said Susan Stapleton, GRC expert at Pathlock. “AI agents introduce a different challenge: understanding what actually happened after access was granted.” Being able to verify, trace, investigate, and explain AI-driven actions in real time across business applications will determine an organization’s AI preparedness, she added.
Agents moving from copilots to financial operators
The survey suggested enterprises are already trusting AI agents with responsibilities that until recently belonged exclusively to employees.
Among surveyed respondents, 38% said AI agents can create or modify vendors and other business records, 35% allow them to execute cross-system workflows, and 28% permit them to approve transactions. More than one-third (36%) have already deployed, or are actively implementing, AI agents within finance and accounting environments.
