Security goes autonomous: Al agents, twins, AR wearables

Agentic Al, digital twins, and AR wearables are moving from pilots to operations, reshaping how Indian security teams detect, decide, and act.

- BY ANDREW BURNETT

As India steps into 2026, several technology trends that once lived largely in research labs and conference keynotes are now becoming the daily reality of the security industry.

What is new is not the idea of Al itself, but the emergence of Agentic AI—intelligent systems capable of taking autonomous actions across operational workflows.

Instead of asking what Al might do someday, security teams are now seeing what it can actually do in the field, under real constraints, real urgency, and real accountability.

Three technologies will particularly drive this shift in 2026: Agentic Al, Digital Twins, and Wearables with Augmented Reality (AR). Each represents an evolution not just in capability, but a step toward fully intelligent, interconnected, and immersive security ecosystems.

As India accelerates the adoption of smart city frameworks and digital surveillance infrastructure—through programmes such as the Smart Cities Mission and Digital India—these technologies are no longer futuristic concepts. They are becoming essential to the daily functioning of security operations across Indian enterprises, public infrastructure, and government systems.

AGENTIC AI: FROM HYPE-CYCLE TO OPERATIONAL WORKFLOWS

Agentic Al first gained attention for use cases such as code generation, but its practical impact in 2026 is expanding well beyond software development. The real shift is from capability demonstrations to task-focused agents embedded directly into operational flows. Rather than remaining a proof-of-concept novelty, agents are now being designed to orchestrate across systems: ingesting video feeds, correlating access logs, detecting deviations, and triggering followup actions—all without a human having to translate between disconnected interfaces and dashboards.