The Ultimate Guide to AI Agents
A curated Australian 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.
Australian AI Agents News
Regional stories with direct local relevance
Australian firms save 18 hours per AI-powered contract
Many Australian businesses still miss contract insights after signing, even as AI cuts agreement cycle times by 34% and saves 18 hours each.
Adobe expands AI partnerships with agencies & Microsoft
The deal puts Adobe's customer experience tools inside Microsoft 365 Copilot and Claude Enterprise, reaching marketers in their daily workflows.
Australians use AI widely, but trust & standards lag
But 56 per cent of users rely on unapproved tools, leaving Australian employers to tackle security, compliance and trust gaps.
Australia leads in trusted AI service investment, Salesforce
Despite regulatory pressure, Australian service leaders are prioritising customer-facing AI spending as trust in AI agents outpaces global averages.
Guzman y Gomez launches Apple CarPlay ordering in Australia
It could speed repeat purchases for drivers by letting them order, pay and earn loyalty points without touching a phone.
How to meet APRA's demands for improved AI security
Financial firms face tighter oversight as the regulator warns current controls are not enough for fast-changing AI systems and machine identities.
Analyst Insights
Research and market analysis connected to AI Agents
Komprise launches Transparent File Tables for AI analytics
JFrog named leader in Gartner's software security quadrant
New AI era defined by agents, rising costs and maturity gaps
Jamf launches AI governance for Mac fleets in enterprises
Zato hails AI agents for accountants amid staff squeeze
Featured News
Data storage gets profitable as Exaba targets US expansion
Exaba's local cloud storage pitch could give US managed services providers higher margins as it challenges AWS and Azure in a crowded market.
Storage to strategy: Everpure pivots to data intelligence
Enterprises wrestling with AI readiness and data sovereignty may gain clearer governance as Everpure adds a new intelligence layer.
Banks face AI balancing act as regulation tempers uptake
Australia's banks are steadily increasing their use of artificial intelligence, but regulation and data security fears are tempering adoption.
How the 'human hour' mentality influences the future of tech
AI pilots are faltering where firms still judge success by hours saved, leaving customer value and workforce design unresolved.
Hype growing - but SMEs still face barriers to AI adoption
Small firms risk falling behind unless they adopt AI for practical gains, as SMEC AI says many are still confused by the technology.
'Smart people changing': How humans and agentic AI co-exist
Governance fears and skills gaps are pushing businesses to deploy agentic AI in secure systems while protecting staff from disruption.
Exabeam: Ruthless efficiency can make agentic AI malicious
Behavioural analytics is becoming essential as AI agents can pursue tasks so efficiently that they may cause damage without any malicious intent.
Visibility can shield you against $15k/min downtime
Blind spots in monitoring are pushing outage bills higher, with Splunk estimating average downtime now costs USD $15,000 a minute.
Marvell targets AI connectivity bottleneck with NVIDIA boost
AI data centres are hitting copper limits, pushing Marvell and Nvidia towards optics as clusters grow larger and more distributed.
Snowflake unveils platform upgrades for CoCo, CoWork
Enterprises will get tighter AI controls as Snowflake adds blocking policies, multi-party authorisation and new agentic tools at Summit.
Exclusive: Reco COO on securing the AI inside your SaaS stack
Reco COO Zoe Hillenmeyer says enterprises typically underestimate their AI agent exposure by a factor of ten and that gap is widening.
Everpure preparing for new era of cyber resiliency
AI attacks are pushing firms to prioritise cyber resiliency, as Everpure warns downtime can exceed ransom demands by up to 75 times.
The AI challenge - balancing governance and innovation
Many projects remain stuck at proof of concept as businesses wrestle with data governance, security and agent oversight before scaling AI.
Dell Technologies makes all the hardware cool again
Renewed AI spending is boosting demand for Dell's secure, certified infrastructure as companies chase faster deployment and lower cloud costs.
Exclusive: Arctic Wolf builds out agentic security
Arctic Wolf expands its Agentic SOC as AI speeds attacks and shadow AI risks, with President, Technology and Services Dan Schiappa backing human oversight.
AI agents multiply risk, says DigiCert chief product officer
Many firms cannot see where their AI agents are, leaving identity, policy and supply-chain risks to grow as deployments scale.
'Self-learning' AI big boon for Qualtrics' CX
Companies using AI for customer experience are cutting churn and lifting revenue, with Qualtrics saying richer feedback can triple insights.
Exclusive: Denodo's Dominic Sartorio on perfect data vs the right data
Trust in enterprise AI is being undermined as Denodo research finds most firms still lack live, context-aware data for production use.
Google Cloud CEO sets out enterprise AI agent plan
Enterprises will get one place to build, govern and run AI agents, as Google Cloud expands Gemini Enterprise across models, data and security.
Google flags urgency as AI reshapes cyber threats
Patching delays now carry greater risk as Google says AI is helping attackers scale intrusions, speed up breaches and automate operations.
Exclusive: Google Cloud reshaping finance with agentic AI
Banks must move beyond isolated pilots if they want agentic AI to deliver enterprise-wide gains, Google Cloud says.
Exclusive: Google Cloud accelerates shift to agentic data
Enterprises may soon design data systems for AI agents rather than staff, as Google Cloud adds real-time context, automation and cross-cloud access.
Exclusive: Google sees success with niche AI playbooks
Enterprises are under pressure to prove AI returns as Google pushes reusable, sector-specific playbooks into production across 19 industries.
Google sees retail success with agentic commerce push
Retailers are using Google’s new AI suite to speed up shopping and support, with Bunnings already live and UCP adoption starting to grow.
Netskope's Tony Burnside - visibility is key to AI security
AI tools are creating hidden east-west traffic that security teams struggle to monitor, raising the risk of data leakage and compromise.
Exclusive: Celonis global banking head says AI rollout hinges on process intelligence
Banks risk wasting AI spending unless they first map how work really flows, as Celonis says process intelligence is becoming phase zero.
Great Southern Grammar embraces AI to boost high-impact teaching
Battery-strapped students at Great Southern Grammar are gaining more classroom time after a Surface laptop rollout cut device downtime and boosted AI use.
Zetifi's connectivity solutions drive fleet and worker safety
Remote crews can now stay connected and monitored through Zetifi’s multi-network system, reducing risk and unnecessary check-ins in the field.
Exclusive: Orderfox pushes into autonomous execution with Gieni ABX
Orderfox launches Gieni ABX on Microsoft Azure to push industrial AI beyond insights, automating workflows across enterprise systems with governance.
UiPath Accelerates AI in Software Development and Testing
UiPath is pushing AI deeper into software testing, promising autonomous agents that transform quality assurance and developers' roles.
Reviews
Expert Columns
Your bottle cooler knows more than your data team: Here's how it unlocks agentic AI
When Agents act on bad data, the damage is automatic
How to meet APRA's demands for improved AI security
Rewiring the heart of the CFOs office
As agentic development accelerates, workflow auditability becomes a bottleneck
Are Australian organisations ready for the new rules of AI and quantum cyberwarfare?
AI: Powering the next wave of smarter logistics
The next phase of AI in marketing is not just more automation
Microsoft security landscape shifts as critical vulnerabilities surge: report
Why organisations in Asia Pacific are rethinking their AI deployment strategies
Interviews
Interviews and video coverage from the networkRecent AI Agents News
Cloudflare names The Missing Link as design partner
The move signals Cloudflare's push to channel more secure access service edge work through specialists as firms simplify legacy security for AI adoption.
InfoTrack & Legora link AI workflows with legal data
Law firms could cut friction in transactions as verified property, company and identity data feed directly into Legora's AI workflows.
EthicAI launches Selma as Australian firms seek AI control
Concerns over overseas access have pushed Australian agencies towards locally controlled AI, as a US order left some users abruptly cut off.
Rewiring the heart of the CFOs office
Fragmented data is slowing finance decisions and limiting the value of AI, as Australian CFOs push to make GRC the office's connective layer.
Infosys to modernise Valmet IT with AI-first model
The deal is set to cut costs and speed issue resolution as Valmet shifts core IT operations onto an AI-led, cloud-based model.
Australian firms roll back AI agents over governance
Governance failures have forced most Australian enterprises to pull back customer-facing AI agents, even as spending plans and deployments keep rising.
Akamai launches agentic security framework with Visa
The framework aims to let merchants verify authorised AI agents, block rogue automation and monetise machine traffic as commerce shifts online.
Allianz Retire+ launches AI assistant for advisers
Financial advisers may soon get quicker answers on retirement income products as Allianz Retire+ tests Ada for compliant support.
Spaceship urges investors to back AI beneficiaries
AI adoption could lift earnings for software and cybersecurity groups even as businesses trim staff and automation threatens more jobs.
MYOB & Mastercard test AI payments for SMEs in Australia
Small firms could ease cash flow pressure as the pilot lets owners set rules for paying bills, timing and payment methods.
Publicis Sapient launches AI platform for IT operations
Enterprises could cut IT support costs by up to 45% as the platform spots and fixes faults before they disrupt operations.
Australians delay device upgrades for EOFY tech deals
Cost pressures are pushing more Australians to hold onto broken devices until end-of-financial-year discounts arrive, Optus research shows.
Australian retailers lag AI ambitions as data gaps bite
Only 10% of retailers say they can deliver personalisation at scale, as fragmented data and systems slow Australia's AI push.
Are Australian organisations ready for the new rules of AI and quantum cyberwarfare?
New AI and quantum threats are shrinking defenders' response time, forcing Australian organisations to map exposure across interconnected systems before attacks hit.
AI: Powering the next wave of smarter logistics
Australia's vast distances are pushing transport firms to use AI to predict delays, reroute shipments and cut costly delivery errors.
Asana unveils AI work suite for human & agent teams
Australian businesses may struggle to keep up as Asana expands AI across workflows, with only 14% having scaled it organisation-wide.
Australia leads in self-hosted AI use, JFrog finds
The survey also found most firms still lack secrets scanning and rapid audit proof, leaving hidden credentials and compliance delays as weak spots.
Kablamo appoints Troy Bebee to lead Google Cloud push
The consultancy is betting on rising demand for data and AI projects by adding senior Google Cloud leadership across Australia and Canada.
Australians turn to AI as trust gap widens, study finds
Adoption has surged to 17.4 million users, even as most Australians remain uneasy about tech firms' data use and ad-funded answers.
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Kinetic IT report flags AI & sovereign execution gap
Funding and skills shortages are leaving Australian agencies unable to safely deploy AI while keeping ageing systems resilient and under control.
Job Moves
Kablamo appoints Troy Bebee to lead Google Cloud push
CommBank appoints first Chief AI Scientist in Australia
Cloudwerx appoints Harsh Mishra to lead SA market expansion
Prophet strengthens AI team with key engineering hires
Prophet names Rachel Scott as Head of Marketing Science
VentureCrowd appoints Jesse Arundell to lead agentic AI drive
JAGGAER names first Chief Digital & AI Officer to boost platform
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