While innovation in the agentic AI space has accelerated exponentially, there is an argument that security and governance have become secondary concerns. Following in the footsteps of other companies in the Cloud Wars Top 10, such as Workday, IBM is shifting focus to security with an industry-first governance software offering.
IBM has revealed new capabilities focused on agentic AI governance. This move is an important step towards developing a unified security and governance approach for agentic AI and other GenAI technologies.
New Offerings
“AI agents are set to revolutionize enterprise productivity, but the very benefits of AI agents can also present a challenge,” said Ritika Gunnar, General Manager, Data and AI, IBM. “When these autonomous systems aren’t properly governed or secured, they can carry steep consequences.”
The new capabilities launched by IBM to help companies avoid these consequences include integrations, lifecycle governance, compliance accelerators, and consultancy.
- Guardium AI Security: IBM is enhancing the integration of Guardium AI Security and watsonx.governance to offer a unified solution for managing security and governance specific to AI. New features include an AllTrue.ai-enabled capability for detecting AI use cases across multiple systems, as well as automated governance workflows designed to address emerging issues in real time.
- Agentic AI Evaluation and Lifecycle Governance: IBM watsonx.governance can monitor and manage AI agents throughout their lifecycle. Developers can build evaluation nodes into these agents, enabling users to observe and monitor specific metrics. This provides them with the knowledge to quickly identify the source of any issues. In the future, IBM will also introduce onboarding risk assessments, agent audit trails, and an agent tool catalog.
- Compliance: IBM, through watsonx.governance, is introducing Compliance Accelerators that include pre-loaded regulations, standards, and frameworks from various jurisdictions worldwide, including the EU AI Act and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s SR 11-7 guidance.
- Consultancy: IBM Consulting Cybersecurity Services is launching new offerings that integrate data security platforms with AI and domain expertise. The goal is to assist organizations in transitioning to an AI-driven future.
AI Agent & Copilot Summit is an AI-first event to define opportunities, impact, and outcomes with Microsoft Copilot and agents. Building on its 2025 success, the 2026 event takes place March 17-19 in San Diego. Get more details.
Closing Thoughts
The conversation around AI is shifting towards security and governance. Every company providing AI tools and technologies must be aware of this shift and adapt accordingly, and to a great extent, they are.
What is particularly interesting about how this shift is playing out is the various ways leading tech providers are addressing concerns regarding AI governance. In the example I highlighted above, regarding Workday, the company chose to express its commitment to security and governance by voluntarily putting its infrastructure through the regulatory paces.
In contrast, IBM is focusing on a solution-based approach. However, as with all innovations in the Cloud Wars, it’s the nuances that really matter. What stands out here is IBM’s supreme confidence in its existing services and technologies.
Instead of reinventing the wheel, this highly established and respected company is adapting its already powerful technology and consulting offerings to deliver a solution that both it and its customers can feel confident about. In the era of agentic AI, offerings like this are becoming increasingly sought after, and with the race so tight, anything that gives a company the edge is significant.
Ask Cloud Wars AI Agent about this analysis
