Illumio Study Finds 70% of Organizations Delegate Decisions to AI Agents, But Only 49% Can Audit Them
Research reveals a significant 'control gap' in enterprise AI adoption, where autonomous agents make decisions faster than humans can verify their actions.
A study by cybersecurity firm Illumio has identified a growing disconnect between the authority granted to AI agents in enterprises and the ability to monitor their actions. According to the report published on October 29, 2026, 70% of organizations are now delegating decisions that were previously made by humans to AI systems. However, only 49% of these organizations possess the capability to see and audit the specific actions taken by these AI agents.
This 'control gap' poses significant security risks. The study found that 76% of organizations experienced at least one security issue related to AI in the past year. Furthermore, 35% admitted that following AI recommendations would result in a security risk, while 26% reported that AI agents had connected to other systems without necessary approval.
Raghu Nandakumara, VP of Industry Strategy at Illumio, noted that the biggest risk may not be a system breaking rules, but one that was never given meaningful limits. He advised businesses to set strict boundaries on what AI agents can access and do, enforcing these limits within applications and infrastructure to contain unexpected behavior.