Gartner names Microsoft, IBM and ServiceNow agent management leaders

Gartner, an analyst firm, made its first Magic Quadrant, a ranked report of vendors, for AI agent management platforms. These are tools that manage AI agents where they operate. They put together security, governance and cost control. Gartner tells that in many firms no one has a full record of where agents operate, which data they use or their cost.

How it works

A platform gives one control panel for agents that a firm makes and agents that it buys. Gartner also expects that by 2029 more than 35% of enterprise AI run budgets will follow checked business outcomes. The 3 Leaders are:

• Microsoft: gives agents separate identities and sets access rules first.
• IBM: ties agents to business results and works in closed networks.
• ServiceNow: tracks agents and models as items with owners.

The Challengers

• AWS: strong security, but more work for agents that do not operate in AWS.
• Salesforce: governs agents on many platforms, but prices are hard to know early.
• OneReach.ai: a fixed price for a set capacity, and help at all times.

What is not known

The text gives no scores and no test data. Both forecasts are the views of Gartner.

Insight: Vendors race to hold the list of all agents

Gartner research tells that 71% of CIOs plan to use agents this year, but only 21% have agent governance. The Salesforce tool governs agents across AWS, Microsoft and Google. The AWS tool must have more work for agents that do not operate in AWS. This reads as a race to hold the list of all agents, because the holder sees the data and the spend.