Topic starter
02/08/2026 11:46 am
TL;DR: By 2026, AI systems are embedded in business processes and can act across tools, data sources, and workflows, creating risks such as prompt injection, shadow AI, and unauthorized tool use, according to Akto. Traditional security assumes predictable software; agentic behaviour breaks that assumption and demands lifecycle governance.
Editorial analysis by NHI Mgmt Group, based on content published by Akto: “AI Security Platform for Agentic AI and LLM Applications in 2026”.
Key questions
Q: What breaks when agentic AI is governed like a normal application account?
A: Security controls break down because agentic systems do not behave like fixed-function applications.
Q: Why do prompt injection attacks create governance risk for AI agents?
A: Prompt injection creates governance risk because the model often sits in the control path between text input and tool execution.
Q: How can security teams tell whether AI lifecycle controls are working?
A: They should look for evidence that access requests, policy enforcement, and usage visibility are centrally recorded and current.
Practitioner guidance
- Map AI agents and copilots into your identity inventory Identify approved and shadow AI across browsers, IDEs, endpoints, SaaS tools, and MCP-connected systems so access paths are visible before governance controls are applied.
- Constrain tool use to task-scoped permissions Limit which APIs, databases, and workflow systems an agent can invoke, and separate read, write, and execute permissions so one prompt cannot trigger broad action.
- Insert runtime checks for prompt injection and indirect inputs Inspect prompts, documents, emails, and retrieved content before the model can treat them as instructions, especially where external data can drive agent actions.
Bottom line: Agentic AI changes the identity problem because the system can decide, act, and chain tools instead of waiting for explicit human approval.
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02/08/2026 12:57 pm
Agentic AI exposes an identity model built for stable actors: Access governance was designed for systems whose entitlements remain stable long enough to be reviewed, recertified, and revoked. That assumption fails when the actor can decide, chain tools, and change execution state at runtime. The implication is that identity control has to move from static assignment to lifecycle observation and task-scoped enforcement.
A few things that frame the scale:
- A May 2025 Gartner poll of 147 CIOs and IT leaders found that 24% had already deployed AI agents, 50% were experimenting and 17% planned to deploy by the end of 2026.
A question worth separating out:
Q: What should organisations do when AI agents can access external APIs and internal systems?
A: Organisations should put non-LLM permission controls around agents, so the model can suggest an action but cannot exceed its authorised scope. They should also apply input validation, rule-based guardrails between agents, secure vendor checks for third-party APIs, and logging that tracks data flow and detects anomalies in real time.
👉 Read our full editorial: AI security platforms expose the governance gap in agentic AI