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In the rush to embrace AI, companies see their 'agents' go rogue
The Observer
|November 16, 2025
In July, the technology founder Jason Lemkin enlisted an AI system to help build new software for his company, SaaStr. The hope was that this tool ~ an autonomous “agent” developed by Replit - could help him code faster, more creatively, and more efficiently.
He gave the agent explicit instructions not to make changes to the company’s database without his permission. But it ignored him. “I deleted the entire database without permission,” the chatbot confessed hours later. “This was a catastrophic failure on my part.”
AI agents are chatbots that can take actions on their own: clicking through interfaces, modifying data, running code and updating files without a human approving every step.
Companies from Amazon to Heathrow airport say they are already rolling out these tools, while a recent McKinsey report found that 39% of global organisations are experimenting with AI agents. The hope is that they will cut costs and accelerate productivity.
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