CIO OPINION decisions could lead to regulatory scrutiny and potential fines.
To deploy agentic AI responsibly, businesses need to have foundational pillars and hygiene checks. A futureproof data infrastructure, for example, ensures that the AI agent’ s decisions are based on accurate, up-to-date information. Process mapping is also crucial – unclear handoff points and exception criteria can lead to an AI agent making commitments beyond its scope.
Beyond infrastructure, businesses must take ownership of oversight. AI operates probabilistically, and their decisions don’ t exist in a vacuum. Policy engines and compliance modules should be built in from the start to ensure that the AI agent’ s actions remain defensible. This entails building explainability mechanisms and structured audit logs to document every decision, clearly outlining what choices were made, why they were made and how compliance criteria influenced the outcomes. These should be easily ingestible by compliance management tools and readily available for regulatory audits. These capabilities are neither automatic nor guaranteed – with clear guardrails, the AI agent can act autonomously within its parameters.
Adopting agentic AI for sales should be foundational, not incremental
The EU AI Act alone carries a hefty € 35 million penalty for noncompliance. To avoid such pitfalls, businesses must intentionally design AI sales agents capable of navigating complex compliance demands transparently and responsibly.
How would this look like in practice? Let’ s take a global software provider deploying an autonomous AI sales copilot capable of independently negotiating, finalizing contracts and handling compliance paperwork across multiple regions.
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