The coordination gap between building agents and controlling them

Most companies are building autonomous capabilities faster than they can deploy them safely. This VentureBeat piece breaks down exactly where the coordination gap shows up: in identity management that can't handle millions of agent credentials, in API architectures built for humans rather than machines, in cost controls that don't account for agents that can loop endlessly.

The problem surfaces when a developer spins up an agent with broad access across your systems. That convenience becomes a vulnerability the moment someone repurposes it or credentials leak at machine speed. The article describes the mechanics of agent sprawl—overlapping capabilities, runaway API calls, teams spinning up agents independently with no catalog or governance. I've been writing about this coordination failure between what we can build and what we can operate responsibly.

The answer isn't slowing down deployment. It's building the operational foundation before you scale. AI Gateways that enforce consistent authentication. Agent Catalogs that prevent redundant development and provide visibility for security teams. The A2A protocol that brings structure to how agents discover and communicate with each other. These aren't optional extras—they're how you create the predictability that both humans and agents need to function.

This ties back to what I wrote about data architecture and evaluation infrastructure: readiness isn't about choosing the right technology. It's about making those components work together reliably under pressure. The companies succeeding at agentic AI aren't the fastest to deploy. They're the ones that built trust into their architecture from the beginning, not as an afterthought once things break.

https://venturebeat.com/ai/companies-are-sleepwalking-into-agentic-ai-sprawl