Companies are contending with the potential ethical and reputational harms from agentic and generative AI as the technology rapidly evolves. A survey by IBM revealed that 80 percent of executives in Europe, the Middle East and Africa reported an "AI-related incident reached their board or C-suite" in the past year, with only 40 percent changing AI governance policy or frameworks in response. Only 37 percent said their governance is designed to scale with agentic AI deployment.
Leon Butler, IBM's UK and Ireland chief executive, says companies are playing catch-up on governance. The greatest challenge, according to Randstad's global responsible AI officer Martin Woodward, is the volume and velocity of AI execution, creating a healthy tension between business innovation and maintaining market reputation. Consultancy Accenture's chief AI and data officer Lan Guan emphasizes the need to balance governance control, democratization of AI, and human ingenuity, noting that implementing governance at the right time with the right tools will help technology go faster.
Most companies have introduced AI frameworks setting out broad principles. Okta's chief operating officer Eric Kelleher cites the EU AI Act as a good starting point for responsible AI adoption, advocating that AI agents be treated as first-class identities governed with the same rigour as human identities. Ikea has seven core principles including accountability, human agency, fairness, privacy, transparency and sustainability.
Burce Gültekin, the retailer's global chief data and AI officer, says they have set boundaries going beyond legal requirements, including restrictions on AI-driven surveillance and automated decisions without human oversight. Salesforce chief ethical and humane use officer Paula Goldman says the company sets time limits on guidance and reviews it regularly as risks change. JLL grades activities from high to low risk, with AI agents authorizing vendor payments classified as high risk requiring review.
A Wharton School study found no consensus on who is responsible for AI errors, with 28 percent attributing responsibility to governance or risk teams, 26 percent to deploying employee's manager, 25 percent to employees, and 9 percent to vendors. Global demand for AI governance analysts has grown 3.3 times since 2019, while AI risk managers and ethics leads have grown 2.4 times, yet a skills shortage persists.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing