---
title: "Want to use AI agents safely? Start with design"
url: https://daily.dev/posts/want-to-use-ai-agents-safely-start-with-design-4cxgy9xwg
source_url: https://blog.scottlogic.com/2026/08/18/want-to-use-ai-agents-safely-start-with-design.html
type: article
source: "Scott Logic"
published: 2026-08-18T13:51:09.290Z
updated: 2026-08-18T14:23:20.216Z
tags: ["security", "career", "ai-agents", "observability"]
reading_time: 9
upvotes: 0
comments: 0
language: en
---

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# Want to use AI agents safely? Start with design

**[Scott Logic](https://daily.dev/sources/scottlogic)** · 9 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

Organisations worried about losing control when adopting agentic AI should start with process design rather than guardrails. Decades of experience managing risk with non-deterministic humans still applies to AI agents: identify where humans and AI each add the most value, then design controls around that. Key principles include matching autonomy to risk, keeping accountability human, choosing the right AI type for the task, and mapping the end-to-end process before adding guardrails. Observability is framed as essential to detect model drift, verify behavior, and support auditability, especially in regulated industries, with control points defined at the design stage rather than bolted on afterward.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://blog.scottlogic.com/2026/08/18/want-to-use-ai-agents-safely-start-with-design.html>

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---

Tags: [#security](https://daily.dev/tags/security), [#career](https://daily.dev/tags/career), [#ai-agents](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-agents), [#observability](https://daily.dev/tags/observability)

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