Clear Path step · Business · AI used on your terms
Set rules for AI agents before they act for the business
Why it matters: Prompt injection means an agent can be steered by text it reads in an email, document or web page. Least privilege and human approval decide whether that becomes a typo or a wire transfer.
Do it
- List each agent or automation and what it can do.
- Give each its own account with the minimum access, and short-lived credentials where possible.
- Require human approval for payments, external email, deleting data and changing customer records.
- Never let an agent read untrusted content, such as inbound email or the open web, and take high-impact actions in the same run without approval.
- Keep logs and review them weekly at first.
Check it worked: Any AI agent that can send email, move money, change records or talk to customers has its own account, the minimum access, a human approval step for high-impact actions, and a log someone reviews.
If an outside IT company handles your IT, send them this:
Hi, before any AI agent acts for us, could you please list each agent or automation and what it can do, and give each its own account with minimum access and short-lived credentials where possible? Please require human approval for payments, external email, deleting data and changing customer records, keep agents that read inbound email or the web from acting without approval, and turn on logs. Please confirm when done.
Simply put
An AI agent is like a new temp with a company card: helpful, quick and easy to fool with a convincing note. Its own login, small limits and a manager's sign-off on big actions keep a mistake small.
In detail
The combination to avoid is private data, untrusted content and the ability to send or act, all in one agent. Joint agentic AI guidance from CISA, the UK NCSC and their partners points to the same mitigations: bounded pilots, minimum access for the shortest time, and a person accountable for what the agent does.
Points toward the Long View: agents that help the business without acting alone on high-impact tasks.