AI agents promise to move from conversation to action. They can perform a series of steps, but their autonomy must remain proportionate to the risk of the task they are given.

What an agent can do

An agent can search for information, compare documents, complete a draft or prepare a list of actions. It is particularly useful when the process is repetitive and the result can be checked.

Open-ended, ambiguous or sensitive tasks still require strong human oversight.

The principle of least privilege

An agent should only have access to the data and tools it needs. Permission to read a calendar does not automatically imply the right to send a message or change an appointment.

Requiring approval before an external or irreversible action is a simple and effective safeguard.

Measure before rolling out

Before a large-scale deployment, a limited use case should be tested against precise criteria: time saved, error rate, cost and user satisfaction.

This measurement prevents a compelling demonstration from being mistaken for a tool that is truly reliable in daily use.