The Missing 20%: Why Agentic Systems Need Built-In Control

submited by
Style Pass
2025-07-26 12:00:05

The word agentic is everywhere, and for good reason — its potential to transform existing processes is unparalleled. However, what’s commonly thought of as agentic architecture typically gets you only 80% of the way there. In highly regulated industries, where risk tolerance is low and accuracy thresholds are closer to 95% or higher, that’s often not good enough. In this post, I want to highlight what I believe is missing to truly unlock the benefits of agentic systems in such environments.

First, it's worth level-setting on the definition of agentic. Different schools of thought exist on what agentic systems actually are — ranging from deterministic, tool-using workflows powered by LLMs to fully autonomous agents where the LLM plans and executes a series of actions on its own. Personally, I lean towards the autonomous spectum.

Now, while Anthropic suggests (1) customer chatbots can benefit from agentic systems by enabling more natural, flexible conversations compared to rigid workflows, in highly regulated industries like healthcare and finance, the risks outweigh the benefits.

Leave a Comment
Related Posts