TLDR IT 2026-11-04

AI agents are joining the workforce, but the security policies aren't keeping up. Research from JumpCloud found that 59% of organizations using AI agents haven't fully integrated them into the identity policies used for employees. That's a problem as agents increasingly access applications, execute tasks, and make decisions. With JumpCloud's Agentic IAM capabilities, IT teams can discover agents, establish ownership, manage permissions, and govern access throughout their lifecycle, alongside human and device identities. Because as the workforce evolves, security needs to evolve with it.

Secure every identity. Human or not.

Snowflake announced CoCo and CoWork Bots, agents in development that will handle ongoing tasks in the background and request human input when needed. Separate updates add recurring automations and planned integrations with Slack, spreadsheets, and mobile devices.

More than 40 supermarkets across seven countries were affected by suspected attacks that remotely raised refrigeration temperatures, destroying food. The incidents highlight the exposure of connected operational equipment that can remain in service long after its software support ends.

ActivTrak's latest research associates heavy AI use with longer workdays, shorter focus sessions, and more app switching, contradicting some of its earlier findings. Different samples and measurement limitations make the results difficult to compare, underscoring why usage metrics alone cannot establish productivity gains.

Gartner predicts that 30% of employees replaced by AI will be rehired by 2029, likely at a higher cost. The firm argues that companies should assess how work needs to change before deciding which roles to cut.

Finserv leader Riverty runs +100 Jira Service Management projects, powered by a rich CMDB in Assets. In this recorded fireside chat, PM Andrei Tuch shares how they connect data from devices, org charts, deployments, and vendor contracts - and layer AI on top for knowledge retrieval, multilingual support, and DORA‑ready compliance reporting. Watch on-demand

Bull and Schwarz Digits signed an agreement to develop AI infrastructure for European organizations in regulated and strategic sectors. The planned architecture combines STACKIT's European cloud with Bull's computing hardware, liquid cooling, and AI software.

Snowflake's generally available Cortex AI Gateway centralizes policies for agent connections, model access, and spending. Its upcoming Business Ontology preview will give agents approved definitions of business concepts, while sandbox execution and agent-abuse detection remain in private preview.

National Grid plans a major substation at Teesside to support a proposed data center, battery storage, and other power-intensive industries. Its initial 1,440 MVA capacity is scheduled to come online by the end of 2029, illustrating the long infrastructure timelines behind AI expansion.

Accenture's survey of 300 technology leaders finds 64% are scaling enterprise AI deployment, but only 7% are optimizing it at scale. User adoption and training are the most frequently cited execution barrier, while nearly half still require manual approvals for agents in IT operations.

Openreach warns that roughly 300,000 business copper lines remain active ahead of the January deadline, including connections supporting payment terminals, alarms, and building systems.

Juniper Research forecasts global identity and access management spending will rise from $26.2 billion in 2026 to $40.5 billion by 2031 as businesses manage expanding populations of AI agents and other nonhuman identities.