The Ultimate Guide to AI Agents
A curated Kiwi edition of TechDay news, analysis, interviews, reviews, job moves, and related resources for AI Agents (Agentic AI).
What to know about AI Agents
AI agents represent a transformative area within artificial intelligence, focusing on autonomous or semi-autonomous systems capable of performing complex tasks and making decisions to enhance business operations and personal productivity.
Our recent stories highlight how AI agents are rapidly evolving across sectors—from cybersecurity and data management to customer experience and enterprise automation. Companies are integrating AI agents to improve efficiency, drive innovation, and manage security risks in increasingly sophisticated ways.
By exploring these developments, readers can gain insights into the potential benefits, emerging applications, and challenges associated with AI agent deployment. Whether you're interested in how AI agents enhance software development, automate workflows, or secure enterprise environments, this tag offers a comprehensive look at this dynamic and impactful technology.
Kiwi AI Agents News
Regional stories with direct local relevance
Assurity Consulting puts quality at core of AI push
Reliable AI adoption is becoming a competitive issue, with the consultancy warning firms that quality checks must be built in from the start.
New Zealand firms race ahead with AI despite data gaps
Despite weak data foundations, 65 per cent of local organisations are already running AI projects, while many cannot measure success effectively.
AI boosts value of experienced developers, says Lancom CTO
AI has made prototypes cheap, but production failures remain costly, putting a premium on experienced developers who can spot hidden risks.
NZ firms need better systems before scaling AI, Reframr
Only 2% of New Zealand organisations see themselves as AI teamwork leaders, as most spending still favours technology over people.
Halter's Clank AI cuts engineering time in farm tech
Farming customers could see faster fixes as the system now handles alert triage and code changes, saving more than 215 engineering hours.
New Zealand firms split on AI as strategy gap widens
Only 15% of New Zealand businesses have an AI strategy, leaving most unable to measure returns or prepare for the next wave of tools.
Analyst Insights
Research and market analysis connected to AI Agents
Nol8 launches AI data plane for enterprise controls
Zendesk launches outcome AI platform with new pricing
Annexa: NetSuite Next is a flick of a switch. Rewiring the CFO takes longer
Four Steps CISOs Can Take To Secure AI-driven Software Development
Boomi named Gartner Visionary for AI agent platform
Featured News
Training is the key to overcoming AI's illusion of competence
Poorly trained staff are wasting time and risking sensitive data as organisations rush to adopt AI without basic governance in place.
Adobe CTO on plans for AI agents to access Adobe tools
Customers could soon use ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude inside Adobe's creative apps, with some file-editing tools due in a private beta in early 2027.
Adobe plans MCP access for AI agents to desktop apps
Creative Cloud users may soon let outside AI agents drive Adobe apps for tasks such as rotoscoping and image hole filling, starting on desktop.
Cisco bets on unified security to counter AI-led threats
Businesses face faster AI-driven attacks as the networking giant folds security, observability and management into one platform.
Zendesk moves beyond ticket closures with outcome-based AI
The new platform charges only when AI resolves an issue, pushing support teams to measure success by customer outcomes rather than ticket counts.
Smartsheet tackles execution drift in the age of AI agents
As AI agents speed up operations, firms are struggling to spot when day-to-day work drifts away from strategy and targets.
Palo Alto Networks: Frontier AI brings more attacks, faster
Frontier AI isn't inventing new attacks, says Palo Alto Networks' Wendi Whitmore, but it is making old ones far faster and more frequent.
Oracle Fusion AI: Autonomy is earned, one outcome at a time
Oracle's Kaushal Kurapati says the pace of AI development is surpising even to those driving it.
Sectigo targets ANZ growth as certificate lifespans shrink
Shorter certificate lifespans are pushing Australian and New Zealand firms to automate renewals, or face higher security and outage risks.
Oracle NetSuite: Trust AI the way you'd trust a new hire
Oracle NetSuite's Brian Chess says trust is earned and built over time and through experience. That doesn't change when agentic AI is involved.
Twilio evolves from APIs to conversational trust
As AI agents proliferate, Twilio is focusing on trusted, governed communications infrastructure rather than the apps that sit on top of it.
Oracle's racers: AI removes the grind, increases focus
Oracle Red Bull Racing and SailGP provide insights into AI's relentless incursion into the world of human performance.
Scaling AI means reinventing how work gets done
The shift could reshape hiring, audits and pay as firms move from AI pilots to automated workflows that rely on new guardrails.
Workday is a Fortune 500 startup reborn for the AI era
Its AI-first overhaul has cut layers, sped product cycles and left the company betting that startup-style speed can still serve Fortune 500 customers.
UST: Businesses must rethink how AI returns are measured
Australian firms risk spending increasing resources on AI pilots that ultimately fail to prove gains in revenue, efficiency or customer service.
Celonis banking head: Banks want proof before scaling agents
Celonis argues frontier AI models are too generic for regulated banking, urging firms to weigh cost, risk and process gains before scaling deployments.
Interview: Cloudera says AI agents reshape zero trust
Enterprises must update identity controls as software agents generate more requests and need tightly time-limited access to sensitive systems.
Zscaler takes zero trust beyond the corporate network
Critical infrastructure operators are using cellular links to secure distributed assets as outages and spoofing raise the stakes for resilience.
Workiva: The secret compliance and reporting arms race
Driven by improved tooling, finance teams are meeting higher standards as regulators and analysts scrutinise disclosures faster.
Filigran: Does your CISO know enough?
CISOs are under pressure to answer boardroom questions on exposure in minutes, as Filigran pushes CTEM and open-source validation tools.
Exclusive: ABBYY says AI build costs will drive buying
Enterprises could cut AI spend by up to 80% by shifting document workflows away from custom builds and into standard platforms.
Exclusive: ABBYY brings zero-shot document AI to Vantage
Enterprises can now extract data from unseen document types without templates, as ABBYY rolls out zero-shot capabilities in Vantage.
Interview: Cloudera bets on hybrid AI growth in JAPAC
Banks and large enterprises in Asia-Pacific are rethinking cloud-first AI plans as costs, sovereignty and regulation favour hybrid deployments.
AI transforms CX to go beyond the chatbot
Consumers now expect faster, more automated support as AI agents handle complex customer journeys, though many firms still struggle to prove ROI.
Open source is powering the next generation of frontier AI
Rising inference demand and custom hardware needs are pushing AI infrastructure beyond standard cloud setups, boosting open source tools.
Governance controls are crucial for AI adoption and modernisation
Trusted partners and tighter guardrails are becoming essential as AI agents expand the attack surface and put data sovereignty on the line.
Exclusive: Cloudera builds Hadoop-free future platform
Existing customers get six years of support as Cloudera shifts new AI and analytics workloads to a Hadoop-free platform due in November.
Mimecast CEO: Agentic AI threat novel but not entirely new
Hidden AI risks are already widespread in workplaces, with Mimecast saying users are driving shadow tools and most exposure still starts with people.
Rimini Street offers AI magic without the forced ERP migration
CIOs can keep existing ERP systems and still adopt agentic AI, as Rimini Street pitches a cheaper path away from vendor-led migrations.
Customers at the centre of Adobe's new AI evangelist role
Adobe is using the post to help customers navigate AI adoption while feeding regional priorities back into its global product strategy.
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Apple's Unified Memory powers Kiraa AI's rapid automation
Australian firms can speed month-end processing from days to an hour by running Kiraa AI on Macs instead of costly cloud servers.
Jamf launches AI Governance to enhance visibility, security
IT teams can now track AI models on Apple fleets to curb data leaks and token spend as businesses wrestle with shadow AI.
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AI models expose new attack surfaces through misconfiguration
Misconfigured models are giving attackers a fresh route into cloud systems, raising the risk of data theft and service compromise.
Zendesk's outcome-based pricing balances AI with human touch
Businesses will pay only for closed support cases under Zendesk's new model, as the software group ties AI automation to human fallback.
AI will fade, says Dell Technologies' ephemeral Chief AI Officer
Dell says agentic AI should shift routine tasks below the machine line, freeing staff for expert work while making the role temporary.
Schrodinger's ERP both dead and alive, says Rimini Street
Businesses can avoid costly ERP rip-and-replace projects by layering AI and automation onto existing systems, Rimini Street says.
ClickHouse customer base soars on back of AI demand
AI agents are driving a sharp rise in demand for the real-time data platform, which added 1000 customers early in 2026 to top 4000.
Reviews
Expert Columns
AI is writing your code. Who's making the decisions?
AI in AppSec: Why Finding Vulnerabilities Is No Longer Enough
Six questions to ask your MDR provider
Enterprises Do Not Have a Problem with Access to Technology, but with Choice
We ran an all-employee AI Month and now everyone in our company is ready to build
Securing the AI Systems of Tomorrow
2027 Predictions: The race to AI readiness exposes true cost of effective enterprise data management
Predictions 2027: Why the future of work is 'AI and human' adjacent
AI agents will multiply your inference bill. Is your enterprise ready?
Security Learnings from the Open Source Front Line
Interviews
Interviews and video coverage from the networkRecent AI Agents News
Google expands Knowledge Catalog with semantic models
The update should help enterprises curb wrong AI-generated metrics by linking rival definitions from multiple data tools in one governance graph.
Celonis wins Microsoft 2026 Global ISV Partner award
The award highlights how partners are tying Microsoft's AI tools to measurable business gains, as Celonis joins the group's top winners worldwide.
Caseware launches engagement review agent for auditors
The tool is designed to save auditors three to four hours per engagement by spotting missing items and inconsistencies in workpapers and statements.
Thomson Reuters taps CUBE for legal AI regulatory data
The deal broadens CoCounsel Legal's regulatory coverage to more than 150 countries, giving legal teams verified source material for cross-border work.
AI projects underdeliver as firms keep boosting spending
Most companies still plan to lift AI budgets despite surveys showing just 49% of recent projects delivered expected value.
Island launches enterprise browser to control AI agents
The tool aims to stop AI agents creating a second, unmonitored workforce by extending corporate browser rules to their web activity.
Banks must rebuild around governed AI agents, report
Banks face mounting pressure to prove AI pays off as Backbase says governance and accountability will decide which institutions scale agents.
AIR & Fill Easy link Asia-Pacific identity to EU trust
If approved, the tie-up could let banks and other firms verify Asia-Pacific identity data under EU rules without handling full documents.
Publicis Sapient & Ping Identity back AI identity push
Legacy identity upgrades and AI agent oversight are set to speed up as the firms aim to cut manual work and tighten access controls.
Google adds AI checks to 170-plus skills repository
The new review process should reduce broken skills and costly regressions as Google scales its Agent Skills repository past 170 entries.
Globant launches Glob.AI OS to govern enterprise AI
The platform aims to give large firms tighter control over AI spending, access and accountability as use spreads across more teams.
Axway launches AI platform to rein in costs & risk
Rising AI bills and stricter oversight are pushing enterprises to seek tools that can track usage, data access and compliance.
NiCE launches next-generation Cognigy for AI agents
Businesses can now manage AI agents across customer journeys with greater oversight, as the upgraded platform adds tracing, governance and reusable skills.
Salt Security launches autonomous defence for agents
Security teams can now automate blocking, access revocation and remediation across connected systems as Salt moves beyond alerts and tickets.
Researchers flag AI identity flaw in ServiceNow & Salesforce
Reco said record-triggered AI agents in ServiceNow and Salesforce can inherit the wrong user, creating access risks for support and sales workflows.
Virtana launches AI agent war room for IT incidents
As enterprises add more AI agents, the new platform aims to stop outages being handled in silos and speed recovery across systems.
Google eases GKE Dataplane V2 limits for AI agents
Clusters running AI agents should start faster and hit fewer security identity bottlenecks as Google trims GKE Dataplane V2's label-based limits.
Docebo launches AI agents & knowledge search for learn
Customers using Docebo's Learn platform can now search training and company systems in one place, while AI agents automate routine learning tasks.
llm-d 1.0 aims to ease production AI inference at scale
The release gives enterprises a steadier base for running agentic AI workloads in production, with lower infrastructure strain and less downtime.
BlackFog warns approved AI tools expose sensitive data
Nearly half of security leaders have seen sensitive data exposed via AI tools, with most incidents linked to company-approved services, a survey found.
