Securing AI Agents Demands a New Paradigm

AI agents are autonomous insiders with broad access. Existing tools can't govern them. Each action looks clean in isolation. The chain creates hidden threats no single layer can see or stop.

Read CRM Query DB Send Email Firewall IAM EDR AI AGENT Unprecedented efficiency and risk LETHAL TRIFECTA
Existing Solutions Fall Short

The Agentic Control Gap

Two gaps define today's security stack:

1. No semantic understanding. Existing tools see identities, packets, and API tokens. None understand agent intent. Without it, you can't tell a legitimate workflow from a dangerous one.

2. No pre-execution enforcement. Detection happens after the fact. Logs record what went wrong. Alerts confirm damage. Nothing stops it before execution.

High
Runtime Control
Low
Blind Enforcement
The Gap Agent Centric Controls
Flying Blind
Passive Monitoring
Low High
Semantic Visibility
Why the Endpoint

The Work Happens Here

Organizations don't deploy AI centrally. Agents run on developer machines and employee workstations.

Coding Agents
AI Copilots
Workflow Assistants
Knowledge Agents

Without endpoint visibility, you can't govern agents.
Runtime Assurance governs where the work happens.

Control at the Point of Intent

Certiv sits where agents reason and act

Certiv is the industry's first Runtime Assurance Layer for AI Agents, providing visibility and control with an agent-first, intent-based policy engine that stops risky actions before damage.

Complete Visibility + Execution Control + Intent-Based Policy + Decision Engine
Complete Visibility

See the Full Action Context

Agent visibility requires all four dimensions. Certiv tracks the complete action context for every agent and session.

Agent Session 1 2 3 4
1

Host / Process / User Prompts

Runtime environment, identity, and user prompts that launch and direct agent behavior.

2

Model Chain of Thought

Reasoning steps and logic the model follows before acting.

3

Tool Calls & Data

APIs, MCP servers, file systems, and data sources agents invoke.

4

Agent-to-Agent Calls

Sub-agent sessions, delegated tasks, and their cascading tool calls.

Execution Control

Govern Actions Before They Run

Certiv intercepts every tool call, API request, and system interaction. Intent-aware policy blocks threats before execution.

CERTIV Workstation AI Agent | Browser GOVERNED EXECUTION REMOTE / CLOUD SaaS Apps Cloud DB CI / CD Prod APIs 3rd Party Agent Skills PRIVATE NETWORK GraphQL Webhooks MCP Remote OAuth SDK Calls VPN / Tunnel ON MACHINE File System Shell / CLI Local DB IDE Plugin Git MCP Local
Intent-Based Policy

Policy Built for How AI Actually Behaves

Fixed rules can't handle non-deterministic behavior. Certiv's intent-layer governance evaluates purpose, not just pattern, keeping policies meaningful as behavior evolves.

Understand Intent Parse purpose, not just patterns Detect Drift Flag when behavior deviates from intent Enforce Block, pause, or approve in real time
Decision Engine

Smart, Cloud-Scale Decisions

Actions flow through the Certiv Brain, a cloud-scale engine scoring risk, evaluating policy, and detecting threats in real time.

CERTIV BRAIN Host / User Prompts Local or Remote Models Tool Calls & Data AI Agents, Browsers & Flows
Why the Endpoint

The Work Happens Here

AI agents aren't running in controlled server environments, they're running on your employees' machines, in browsers, applications, and web services, with real access to real systems. Often without security teams knowing they're there.

Network controls can't see them. Cloud policies can't stop them. Certiv governs every agent, on every surface, at the endpoint.

Coding Agents
AI Copilots
Workflow Assistants
Knowledge Agents

That's why Certiv built Runtime Assurance for the endpoint.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Expand to view common questions.

Why can't traditional security tools like EDR, CASB, or network proxies secure AI agents?
Traditional tools were built for humans, not agents. Network proxies see packets, not reasoning. EDR monitors system calls, not intent. CASB covers browser SaaS; agents bypass it via APIs. None can see what an agent is thinking or about to do.
What is runtime agent security and why does it matter?
Runtime agent security means enforcing policy where agents reason and act: the application layer on the endpoint. It's the only position to see reasoning chains, prompt content, tool calls, and data flows before execution. Certiv operates there, intervening before risky actions happen rather than investigating after.
How is Certiv different from AI observability platforms and LLM guardrails?
Observability tools log what happened: useful for debugging, useless for enforcement. LLM guardrails filter model I/O but miss tool calls, multi-step chains, and execution. Certiv acts at the point of action with full context, enforcing policy across the workflow, not just model conversations.