The Ultimate Guide to AI Agents
A curated Kiwi edition of TechDay news, analysis, interviews, reviews, job moves, and related resources for AI Agents (Agentic AI).
What to know about AI Agents
AI agents represent a transformative area within artificial intelligence, focusing on autonomous or semi-autonomous systems capable of performing complex tasks and making decisions to enhance business operations and personal productivity.
Our recent stories highlight how AI agents are rapidly evolving across sectors—from cybersecurity and data management to customer experience and enterprise automation. Companies are integrating AI agents to improve efficiency, drive innovation, and manage security risks in increasingly sophisticated ways.
By exploring these developments, readers can gain insights into the potential benefits, emerging applications, and challenges associated with AI agent deployment. Whether you're interested in how AI agents enhance software development, automate workflows, or secure enterprise environments, this tag offers a comprehensive look at this dynamic and impactful technology.
Kiwi AI Agents News
Regional stories with direct local relevance
NZ firms need better systems before scaling AI, Reframr
Only 2% of New Zealand organisations see themselves as AI teamwork leaders, as most spending still favours technology over people.
Halter's Clank AI cuts engineering time in farm tech
Farming customers could see faster fixes as the system now handles alert triage and code changes, saving more than 215 engineering hours.
New Zealand firms split on AI as strategy gap widens
Only 15% of New Zealand businesses have an AI strategy, leaving most unable to measure returns or prepare for the next wave of tools.
Explainer: Why is everyone talking about AI and the end of the world?
Calls for tighter AI safeguards have intensified after warnings the technology could outpace human control and threaten jobs, security and markets.
AI extinction is only one way the future is frightening
Fears are mounting that unchecked AI could unleash cyberattacks, market shocks and job losses long before any extinction event.
OpenAI says Kiwis use ChatGPT to save hours weekly
New Zealand users are saving hours a week with ChatGPT, as the tool is used for work, budgets, health checks and trip planning.
Analyst Insights
Research and market analysis connected to AI Agents
Fortinet: The AI challenge is visibility and control, not permission
Fastly named Leader in IDC MarketScape WAAP assessment
Omnissa launches AI tools as endpoint use surges 1,000%
Reco raises USD $55 million as AI agent security grows
DXC partners LangChain to govern enterprise AI agents
Featured News
Scaling AI means reinventing how work gets done
The shift could reshape hiring, audits and pay as firms move from AI pilots to automated workflows that rely on new guardrails.
Workday is a Fortune 500 startup reborn for the AI era
Its AI-first overhaul has cut layers, sped product cycles and left the company betting that startup-style speed can still serve Fortune 500 customers.
UST: Businesses must rethink how AI returns are measured
Australian firms risk spending increasing resources on AI pilots that ultimately fail to prove gains in revenue, efficiency or customer service.
Celonis banking head: Banks want proof before scaling agents
Celonis argues frontier AI models are too generic for regulated banking, urging firms to weigh cost, risk and process gains before scaling deployments.
Interview: Cloudera says AI agents reshape zero trust
Enterprises must update identity controls as software agents generate more requests and need tightly time-limited access to sensitive systems.
Zscaler takes zero trust beyond the corporate network
Critical infrastructure operators are using cellular links to secure distributed assets as outages and spoofing raise the stakes for resilience.
Workiva: The secret compliance and reporting arms race
Driven by improved tooling, finance teams are meeting higher standards as regulators and analysts scrutinise disclosures faster.
Filigran: Does your CISO know enough?
CISOs are under pressure to answer boardroom questions on exposure in minutes, as Filigran pushes CTEM and open-source validation tools.
Exclusive: ABBYY says AI build costs will drive buying
Enterprises could cut AI spend by up to 80% by shifting document workflows away from custom builds and into standard platforms.
Exclusive: ABBYY brings zero-shot document AI to Vantage
Enterprises can now extract data from unseen document types without templates, as ABBYY rolls out zero-shot capabilities in Vantage.
Interview: Cloudera bets on hybrid AI growth in JAPAC
Banks and large enterprises in Asia-Pacific are rethinking cloud-first AI plans as costs, sovereignty and regulation favour hybrid deployments.
AI transforms CX to go beyond the chatbot
Consumers now expect faster, more automated support as AI agents handle complex customer journeys, though many firms still struggle to prove ROI.
Open source is powering the next generation of frontier AI
Rising inference demand and custom hardware needs are pushing AI infrastructure beyond standard cloud setups, boosting open source tools.
Governance controls are crucial for AI adoption and modernisation
Trusted partners and tighter guardrails are becoming essential as AI agents expand the attack surface and put data sovereignty on the line.
Exclusive: Cloudera builds Hadoop-free future platform
Existing customers get six years of support as Cloudera shifts new AI and analytics workloads to a Hadoop-free platform due in November.
Mimecast CEO: Agentic AI threat novel but not entirely new
Hidden AI risks are already widespread in workplaces, with Mimecast saying users are driving shadow tools and most exposure still starts with people.
Rimini Street offers AI magic without the forced ERP migration
CIOs can keep existing ERP systems and still adopt agentic AI, as Rimini Street pitches a cheaper path away from vendor-led migrations.
Customers at the centre of Adobe's new AI evangelist role
Adobe is using the post to help customers navigate AI adoption while feeding regional priorities back into its global product strategy.
.webp)
Apple's Unified Memory powers Kiraa AI's rapid automation
Australian firms can speed month-end processing from days to an hour by running Kiraa AI on Macs instead of costly cloud servers.
Jamf launches AI Governance to enhance visibility, security
IT teams can now track AI models on Apple fleets to curb data leaks and token spend as businesses wrestle with shadow AI.
.webp)
AI models expose new attack surfaces through misconfiguration
Misconfigured models are giving attackers a fresh route into cloud systems, raising the risk of data theft and service compromise.
Zendesk's outcome-based pricing balances AI with human touch
Businesses will pay only for closed support cases under Zendesk's new model, as the software group ties AI automation to human fallback.
AI will fade, says Dell Technologies' ephemeral Chief AI Officer
Dell says agentic AI should shift routine tasks below the machine line, freeing staff for expert work while making the role temporary.
Schrodinger's ERP both dead and alive, says Rimini Street
Businesses can avoid costly ERP rip-and-replace projects by layering AI and automation onto existing systems, Rimini Street says.
ClickHouse customer base soars on back of AI demand
AI agents are driving a sharp rise in demand for the real-time data platform, which added 1000 customers early in 2026 to top 4000.
Fresh perspective: New Gentrack CTO on AI-driven utility future
AI tools could cut utility costs and reduce customer friction as Gentrack's new Chief Technology Officer pushes a more proactive service model.
Check Point CTO on AI's double-edged sword
AI is shrinking the gap between vulnerability disclosure and real-world exploitation to hours, forcing security teams to adapt fast.
Reviews
Expert Columns
Data Governance in the AI Era: Why One-Off Projects Fail
AI in Retail is Only as Good as its Data Foundation
AI isn't the problem, Australia's natural resources industry needs business orchestration
Building Infrastructure for an AI World in Motion
Three technology myths CIOs should stop believing
The next eCommerce interface may not be a screen
In the AI era, channel value is being redefined
Stop saying AI hacked the system
AGI is coming. The future of work isn't ready
The data center math has changed
Interviews
Interviews and video coverage from the networkRecent AI Agents News
Incorta launches governed data tools for analytics & AI
Businesses will be able to build data pipelines in a governed environment, as Incorta seeks to cut tool sprawl and reduce AI errors.
Ledger launches Atom security device for AI & crypto
It is aimed at people approving payments, identities and AI tasks on mobiles, with hardware controls designed to block spyware and mistakes.
OutSystems warns of AI agent governance readiness gap
Only 26% of enterprises are ready to resolve AI agent conflicts, exposing a gap between confidence in oversight and operational controls.
Proofpoint to buy Varonis in USD $6.3 billion deal
Varonis shareholders will receive USD $49.75 a share in cash, valuing the data security group at a 52% premium and taking it private.
Tanium joins Microsoft AI security preview for MDASH
The limited preview could help uncover more complex vulnerabilities in Tanium's code, as Microsoft tests MDASH with a small group of partners.
NVIDIA launches RTX Spark for Windows PCs with local AI
Its push into on-device AI on Windows PCs aims to woo creators and gamers while reducing reliance on cloud services for everyday tasks.
Google pitches Gemini agent to startups for busywork
Startups could cut admin and coding time as Google folds Gemini into Workspace and lets teams assign persistent AI coworkers to routine tasks.
Google Cloud & Temporal launch serverless workers
Developers can now run Temporal workers on Cloud Run, with queues scaling capacity automatically and costs falling when work dries up.
Google adds Gemini integration to borderless Lakehouse
Businesses can query data across rival clouds without moving it into Google Cloud first, as the preview aims to speed AI agents and cut duplication.
Nvidia launches Nemotron 3.5 open models for agents
The new range lets organisations run AI agents on local hardware or in-house servers, cutting reliance on cloud services for sensitive tasks.
Telecom operators turn to open AI models, Nvidia says
Broad support for open source could shape telecom AI spending, with 89% of respondents backing it for cost control, governance and local adaptation.
Liquibase Secure lands on Google & Microsoft marketplaces
The wider marketplace rollout should make it easier for large enterprises to buy database governance software through their existing cloud contracts.
Reco raises USD $55 million with AT&T Ventures backing
The security software company will use the money to expand sales and support as enterprises race to govern AI agents accessing sensitive systems.
pubX raises USD $5m, acquires media quality firm Compliant
The acquisition will fold Compliant's media quality signals into pubX's automated ad-buying tools as it expands in the United States.
Arctic Wolf launches AI oversight tools for security teams
Security teams are being offered earlier attack interruption and clearer AI decision trails as the company adds three products to its Aurora platform.
Beca moves finance to Oracle cloud in Asia Pacific
The overhaul is set to cut manual work and improve financial controls for the consultancy's 4,300 staff across 24 Asia Pacific offices.
BlackFog adds AI prompt controls for employee data
The update gives organisations more oversight of employee and agent prompts, helping to stop sensitive data being sent to external AI services.
DevRev joins OpenAI Marketplace as a launch partner
Enterprise customers can now direct part of their OpenAI commitment to DevRev's support and workflow tools, widening its sales reach.
Xyper launches points rewards for creator marketplace
Users can now earn a single balance for referrals, campaign work and community tasks as Xyper folds Protocol XP into its new rewards system.
Deepfake fraud market hits USD $40 billion, report says
Synthetic fraud is now costing banks and insurers USD $40 billion a year, with voice cloning and video deepfakes driving most cases.
