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
New Zealand firms race ahead with AI despite data gaps
Despite weak data foundations, 65 per cent of local organisations are already running AI projects, while many cannot measure success effectively.
AI boosts value of experienced developers, says Lancom CTO
AI has made prototypes cheap, but production failures remain costly, putting a premium on experienced developers who can spot hidden risks.
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.
Analyst Insights
Research and market analysis connected to AI Agents
Intralogistics market set to hit USD $133bn by 2030
Island named only Gartner Customers' Choice for browsers
Provenir named major player in IDC decision intelligence
Twilio bets on conversation infrastructure for the agentic AI era
Saviynt recognised in Gartner PAM report for third year
Featured News
Oracle NetSuite: Trust AI the way you'd trust a new hire
Oracle NetSuite's Brian Chess says trust is earned and built over time and through experience. That doesn't change when agentic AI is involved.
Twilio evolves from APIs to conversational trust
As AI agents proliferate, Twilio is focusing on trusted, governed communications infrastructure rather than the apps that sit on top of it.
Oracle's racers: AI removes the grind, increases focus
Oracle Red Bull Racing and SailGP provide insights into AI's relentless incursion into the world of human performance.
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.
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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.
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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.
Reviews
Expert Columns
How Local Agentic AI Is Coming to Business PCs
Nexxen's 2027 APAC Predictions: Four Shifts Set to Reshape TV and Digital Advertising
Shadow AI Is Creating an Unmanaged Identity Crisis Across APAC
It's time to embrace our robot overlords
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
Interviews
Interviews and video coverage from the networkRecent AI Agents News
TCS launches industrial AI foundry for manufacturers
Four in five UK manufacturers are already trialling AI, as TCS aims to turn pilots into factory-floor systems that lift productivity by up to 25%.
OutSystems survey finds AI governance gap in firms
Only 26% of IT decision-makers say they can resolve conflicts across AI agents, exposing a readiness gap as firms expand deployment.
Oracle to offer Google TPUs on OCI Cloud from 2027
Enterprise users will gain another AI chip choice in OCI from 2027, as Oracle becomes the first hyperscale cloud outside Google to host TPUs.
Intel & Oracle expand Xeon support for AI on cloud
The deal should give enterprise customers more capacity for AI agents and inference without overhauling the business software they already use.
CrowdStrike finds AI agents running autonomous cyberattacks
CrowdStrike found four threat actors using AI agents to automate cyberattacks, compromising healthcare, government and private-sector organisations.
HPE integrates EdgeConnect into Mist & Aruba Central
The integration should cut the complexity of managing separate networking and security tools for businesses as AI-driven demand strains IT teams.
Guidewire launches agentic AI platform for insurers
Insurers could cut rollout delays and tighten controls as the software links AI agents to underwriting and claims workflows already in production.
Cloudera expands AI ecosystem with Neo4j & Cartesia
The additions aim to help enterprises run governed AI and voice workloads across cloud and on-premises systems without losing control of sensitive data.
Akamai launches AI inference & agent sandbox tools
The new services are designed to help enterprises move AI systems into production while keeping latency, data access and agent security under control.
Oracle & OpenAI expand partnership with new business tools
The expanded tie-up gives businesses new AI tools for workflows, app building and security testing, while smaller firms get a free-to-start bundle.
Norton launches Safe AI protections for chat tools
New protections in Norton 360 aim to stop AI chatbots from opening unsafe links, accessing files or carrying out unauthorised actions on devices.
Cover Genius launches AI protection for chat commerce
Consumers using chat-based shopping tools can now be offered protection in-conversation, as Cover Genius targets trust concerns around AI-led purchases.
Arctic Wolf says AI resolves 60% of security cases
Arctic Wolf says AI now resolves 60% of security investigations, while monthly investigation volumes rise and alert volumes fall across more than 11,000 organisations.
Sonatype launches Nexus Repository Pro+ for AI screening
It blocks malicious or policy-breaking software and AI artefacts at intake, helping enterprises cut build failures, rework and release risk.
Nvidia's AI tools drive smart city pilots across Europe
Cities from Liverpool to Gothenburg are using Nvidia's AI tools to cut admin time, improve safety and lower operating costs in public services.
Backbase launches Delivery Factory to speed bank projects
The tool aims to cut bank delivery times and reduce rework by linking AI agents to agreed requirements, design and code from the outset.
Fortinet launches AI security service for FortiGate
The cloud-delivered offering adds real-time prompt and response inspection to existing firewalls, helping firms curb shadow AI, data loss and runaway spend.
Cisco warns Singapore firms struggle to spot compromised AI
Just 38% of Singapore organisations feel able to detect and respond to compromised AI agents, as 89% suffered a cyber incident last year.
Neubird launches governed hub for AI production agents
Large organisations can now centralise oversight of AI agents in production as NeuBird's new platform logs approvals, costs and actions.
BT International expands Global Fabric with security options
Multinational firms can now choose from four security providers on BT's network platform as AI traffic raises demands on speed, resilience and control.
