The Rise of Agentic AI

A New Frontier in Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is no stranger to automation.  

For years, IT and security professionals have been using automated scripts and workflows to streamline repetitive tasks, from patch management to incident response. As the challenges grow more complex, however, so do the solutions.  

Agentic AI technology promises (well, promises is always a strong word) to take automation a step further by introducing new levels of autonomy within the system. 

Unlike traditional robotic process automation (RPA) requiring a meticulously scripted and rigid workflow for every possible scenario, Agentic AI is designed to be more flexible and adaptable. Traditional RPA initiatives often failed because the upfront effort of mapping out every single question and answer was so time-consuming and expensive that many projects never delivered a meaningful return on investment—and as defensive cyber programs continue to vie for budget, finding ways to demonstrate the ROI of new technology is a critical point.  

Agentic AI changes this by operating as a more autonomous system. Instead of needing a full script, you can provide the AI with a goal, access to your data, and a set of instructions. It can then reason, make decisions, and interact with various systems to achieve that goal.  

This shift from "scripting everything" to "guiding a process" could be a game-changer for the information security industry as a whole. 

So, what does this mean for cybersecurity? (Potentially)  

• Faster, Smarter Threat Detection: Imagine an AI agent trained to monitor your network for anomalous activity. It can analyze vast amounts of data—threat feeds, user behavior logs, and system alerts—and make real-time decisions. Instead of a human analyst having to manually cross-reference data from multiple, disparate systems, the AI can perform this task in seconds, identifying and flagging potential threats with greater speed and accuracy. 

• Proactive Vulnerability Management: An agentic AI can trawl through documentation, security reports, and vendor advisories to proactively identify unpatched systems or misconfigurations. This goes beyond simple vulnerability scanning; the AI can correlate information from different sources, such as a vendor's patch history and your own asset inventory, to tell you exactly which systems are at risk and what steps to take. 

• Rapid Incident Response: In the event of a security breach, every second counts. An Agentic AI can be a force multiplier. It can automatically contain an infected endpoint, disconnect a compromised user account, or isolate a segment of the network. While a human is still needed in the loop to make final decisions, the AI can handle the initial, time-sensitive actions, significantly reducing the impact of an attack. 
  

There is a lot of hype around AI, and it's easy to be skeptical.  

But the true value of Agentic AI isn't about replacing human professionals; it's about making them more effective. By automating the mundane, data-intensive tasks, these tools free up security teams to focus on strategic thinking, complex problem-solving, and continuous learning. 

All this to say nothing about the necessity of strong protective policies, data privacy, and long-term implications of integrating Agentic AI into companies—which isn’t something anyone wants to ignore, least of all cybersecurity professionals.