Many Organizations Let AI Agents Act, But Few Can Stop Them

RealVNC survey highlights gaps in visibility, governance and revocation capabilities.

CAMBRIDGE, England, Oct. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- RealVNC has released the findings of its 2026 Agentic AI Survey, revealing that nearly three-quarters of organizations allow AI agents to act without prior human approval, while only 26.4% can revoke agent access.

The findings, which were released last week, explore how organizations are managing AI agents as they gain access to more systems and take on more responsibility.

Based on responses from IT and technical decision-makers across the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, the survey highlights gaps between the autonomy organizations are giving AI agents and the controls they have in place to manage them.

The survey found:

• Most organizations cannot revoke AI agent access. Among organizations that allow AI agents to act without human approval, 75.5% have no way to revoke that access.
• AI agents are interacting with operational systems. 71.4% of organizations have AI agents interacting with legacy, OT or non-API systems. Where agents are actively used on those systems, 59.5% act routinely without approval, while only 21.5% can revoke access.
• Unsanctioned use is associated with more incidents. Organizations reporting AI agents operating without formal IT or security approval were significantly more likely to report incidents than those without unsanctioned agents. Where AI agents operate without formal IT or security approval, 56.2% of organizations reported an incident, compared with 11.7% where they did not. The survey identifies an association, not a proven cause.
• Confidence exceeds visibility. Nearly half (49.3%) of respondents are very or extremely confident they would be able to detect an AI agent that is acting outside its intended scope. Of those, 42.0% have no real-time monitoring in place.
• More controls did not mean fewer incidents. The number of controls an organization has in place has shown no measurable association with whether it has had an incident.

"Many organizations are moving quickly to introduce AI agents into day-to-day operations," said Neil Gad, Chief Product and Technology Officer at RealVNC. "Our research shows that access, monitoring and intervention capabilities are not always developing at the same pace. Organizations need a clear understanding of what agents can access, what they are doing and how that access is managed."

"AI agents are increasingly interacting with systems that were not originally designed for autonomous operation," said Anton Zdziebczok, VP of Product at RealVNC. "The survey highlights the importance of visibility, oversight and clearly defined controls, particularly where agents are operating across multiple systems and environments."

Download the report

The full 2026 Agentic AI Survey report is available to download now.

A full recording of the webinar is also available on the RealVNC YouTube channel.

The general public can access the report here:

https://www.realvnc.com/en/discover/webinar/ai-agents-can-act/

Experience agentic AI remote computing with Remotable

The survey reveals a widening gap between AI adoption and governance. As agents gain autonomy, organizations need stronger visibility, policy enforcement and intervention.

The answer is better control. That's why RealVNC created Remotable, to place a governed control layer between AI agents and the systems they access. It separates agent reasoning from endpoint access, enabling oversight, policy enforcement, observability and approval of workflows before actions reach critical systems.

Learn more: https://www.remotable.com/

About RealVNC

RealVNC is a leading provider of remote access and management technology. Founded in 2002 by the original creators of VNC technology, its products are trusted by millions of users worldwide and are considered "no regrets" platforms by engineers looking for the most reliable, most secure solutions.

Media Contact

Bogdan Bele, RealVNC Limited, 44 1223 310 410, [email protected], https://www.realvnc.com/

SOURCE RealVNC Limited