The Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), a nonprofit and nonpartisan initiative focused on strengthening America's long-term AI competitiveness, has issued a stark warning about the rapid evolution of agentic artificial intelligence (AI). Unlike conventional AI systems that generate responses based on prompts, agentic AI can independently set goals, create plans, and execute multi-step tasks with minimal human oversight. According to SCSP experts, 'AI is beginning to help build better AI,' potentially creating a self-accelerating loop where AI capability development compounds far beyond current projections.
Ylli Bajraktari, president of SCSP, emphasized the security implications in a recent newsletter on agentic AI. 'An agent that can navigate complex bureaucratic systems, identify exploitable vulnerabilities, and act without leaving a clear attribution trail represents a qualitative expansion of adversarial capability,' he stated. Bajraktari warned that adversaries are likely to deploy agentic AI systems in areas where governance is weakest, using them for coercion, espionage, and influence operations.
Contrary to common policy assumptions, effective governance of agentic AI does not center on the AI model itself but on the 'scaffolding' built around it, SCSP experts explained. This scaffolding includes connectors that bridge the model to real-world infrastructure such as email, booking systems, and financial platforms; memory that allows the system to learn and adapt over time; planning capabilities that break large objectives into smaller tasks; permission structures that define system access; and guardrails that determine what the system will refuse to do, such as spending limits or mandatory human sign-offs.
Accountability remains a critical challenge, with governance falling short in three key areas. First, responsibility is often untraceable when AI acts autonomously—there is no clear way to determine who authorized what. Second, current frameworks typically only assess whether a task was completed, not whether it was performed safely or caused harm. Third, agentic AI builds personal profiles by accumulating sensitive data on patterns of behavior, preferences, and inferences, potentially exceeding what individuals wish to share.
Despite these concerns, SCSP emphasizes that agentic AI is not a technology to be feared or deferred. 'Institutions that prioritize understanding, shaping, and governing agentic AI will determine their own competitive position and also impact the character of the environment in which agentic AI operates globally,' the experts noted. For the United States, proactive governance is essential to mitigate risks and harness the technology's potential. More information is available at scsp.ai.
