Your AI Agents Need A Chief Operating Officer, Too
Scaling AI agents requires treating them like employees in regulated roles, with written rules, clearly defined responsibilities and a named human manager accountable for their performance. Guest author Rick Folgmann, COO at Get Covered, tells companies they should start with tasks governed by established rules, adjust autonomy to each workflow’s risks, and regularly review results before…
As a landlord in California, a security deposit must be returned or an itemized list of deductions provided within 21 days of a tenant's departure. Failure to comply in bad faith could result in a penalty equal to twice the deposit. The deadline applies regardless of whether the communication originates from a person or an AI system.
At Get Covered, a company utilizing 16 AI agents to manage over 3 million rental units, the primary challenge lies in determining who these agents report to. According to Rick Folgmann, COO at Get Covered, most companies will soon confront this issue, with few adequately prepared. A Deloitte 2026 State of AI survey reveals that 23% of companies employ agentic AI to some extent, with 74% anticipating increased usage within the next two years.
Gartner predicts that over 40% of agentic AI projects will be abandoned by the end of 2027. These statistics underscore the importance of treating AI agents like regulated staff, implementing written rules, defining their scope, assigning managers, and conducting regular reviews. At Get Covered, the company focuses on tasks with existing rulebooks, such as vendor certificates of insurance, which consume significant time for property teams each week.
By assigning a designated owner for each agent, responsible for reviewing error logs and managing autonomy, Get Covered aims to prevent conflicts between agents and ensure accountability. As AI technology advances, companies must define clear values and risks associated with each agent to avoid potential failures, as Gartner's cancellation forecast suggests.
Treating agents like new employees in regulated roles, with defined rules, limited scope, and assigned managers, will enable organizations to gradually increase agent responsibilities while providing evidence to justify their actions.
Written by urgent.news from Crunchbase News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
