AI Agent Governance: Who Owns the Risk? with Benny Czarny of OPSWAT

Guest Benny Czarny  CEO, Founder & Chairman of the Board  OPSWAT Host Jo Peterson  CIO, Clarify360  Chief Analyst, ClearTech Research AI agents have credentials. They access enterprise data. They make decisions. And increasingly, they can act without waiting for a human. So who actually owns the risk? Jo Peterson sits down with Benny Czarny, CEO, Founder & Chairman of the Board at OPSWAT, to talk about what AI agent governance needs to look like as autonomous AI moves deeper into the enterprise. They discuss why every AI agent needs its own identity and a human owner, how least privilege should apply to agents and sub-agents, and why understanding what data an agent can access may be just as important as securing the model itself. Benny also shares where CISOs should start if they don’t yet have an AI agent inventory or governance framework in place. In This Episode Why every AI agent needs a human owner Least privilege for AI agents and sub-agents The growing risk around AI data access Why AI governance needs real authority The first step CISOs should take in the next 30 days Chapter Markers 00:00 Meet Benny Czarny of OPSWAT 01:40 Protecting critical infrastructure 02:05 Least privilege for AI agents 03:58 Permanent credentials and autonomous agents 05:15 Does AI governance actually work? 07:23 Where CISOs should start 09:29 Protecting the AI data lake 12:34 What AI can learn from OT security 13:12 Cloud, on-prem and air-gapped AI 13:54 OPSWAT’s own AI journey Resource Links OPSWAT https://www.opswat.com/ OPSWAT Academy https://opswatacademy.com/ Cybersecurity Upside Down — Benny Czarny https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GH8SZXJ9 ClearTech Research https://cleartechresearch.com/ ClearTech Loop Newsletter https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/ Full ClearTech Research Article https://cleartechresearch.com/ai-agent-governance-benny-czarny/ 🎧 Listen: In Buzzsprout Player ▶ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ClearTechResearch/videos 📰 Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7346174860760416256/