AI Agents Vs NHIs - What's the difference?

Read Silverfort full article here: https://www.silverfort.com/blog/whats-the-difference-between-nhi-and-ai-agents-and-why-it-matters/?utm_source=nhimg.org

As AI continues to transform the enterprise, teams are increasingly using terms like AI agents and non-human identities (NHIs) interchangeably. But this article makes one thing very clear: they are not the same — and confusing the two could leave critical security gaps.

AI agents are smart, autonomous systems powered by LLMs. They can make decisions, trigger actions, and adapt to their environment in real time. Think of them as intelligent software that acts on goals — often without waiting for human instruction.

NHIs, by contrast, are digital entities or credentials that represents machines, applications, automated processes or services used in IT Infrastructure, like service accounts, containers, or tokens. They’re designed to help systems authenticate and connect securely. They’re automated, yes — but they’re predictable, controlled, and don't make decisions on their own.

The article breaks down the key differences in behavior, lifecycle, security needs, and governance models. It emphasizes that AI agents need new identity frameworks, not legacy controls designed for static machine accounts.

Why does this matter? Because misclassifying AI agents as NHIs can lead to major oversights — like ignoring an agent’s behavior while locking down credentials, or vice versa. As AI becomes more embedded in operations, the need for separate security strategies becomes urgent.

In short: AI agents and NHIs may both be non-human, but they present very different risks. Knowing the difference isn’t just semantic — it’s foundational to building secure, future-ready systems.