- Gartner has predicted the average global Fortune 500 company will have over 150,000 AI agents by 2028.
- An increase in the number of AI agents being used puts businesses at risk of AI sprawl, and so Gartner has provided six steps to help prevent this.
- Businesses should find a balance between establishing clear governance and safety procedures when using AI agents and encouraging employees to experiement with the technology.
In a new report, Gartner has predicted that the number of AI agents within the average global Fortune 100 enterprise will exceed 150,000 by 2028, suggesting a huge increase from 2025.
To help businesses combat the risk of AI sprawl, Gartner has identified six steps businesses can take to manage and govern an increasing number of agents effectively.
While businesses should actively encourage employees across teams to experiment with AI agents, having the proper governance procedures in place is critical to ensuring safety.
Number of AI Agents Expected to Skyrocket by 2028
A new report from Gartner sees the average global Fortune 500 company using over 150,000 agents by 2028, which is up significantly from 15 in 2025.
This will, Gartner predicts, generate agent sprawl, defined as an uncontrolled accumulation of AI agents built by different teams without centralized governance or consistent oversight. AI sprawl can lead to misinformation, oversharing, and data loss.
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Similarly, an increase in the number of AI agents can lead to IT complexity and management challenges.
Gartner Identifies Six Steps to Avoid Agent Sprawl
To help business leaders reduce the risk of agent sprawl, Gartner has identified six steps that will help businesses build a strong foundation for onboarding new agents.
- Establish agent governance and policies – Set clear rules for when and how agents are built within your company. Likewise, outline who can build agents, who can share them, and what connectors are permitted.
- Build a centralized agent inventory – Consider using different AI management tools to categorize agents across applications, from both sanctioned tools and shadow AI solutions. With an agent inventory, businesses can build adaptive controls to enforce the right policies based on the level of risk each agent poses to their business.
- Define agent identity, permissions, and life cycle – Manage each agent’s identity, permission model, and access controls. Ensure you’re continually reviewing and retiring redundant agents to prevent an uncontrolled sprawl.
- Create AI information governance – Control what information the AI tool or agent has access to. Implement a continuous process to keep all data current, manage data permissions (to prevent oversharing), and archive obsolete data.
- Monitor and remediate agent behavior – Establish ongoing visibility into how agents are being used. Put processes in place to ensure policy compliance, detect anomalous behavior, and correct agents that act beyond or in breach of their established guidelines.
- Encourage responsible AI usage amongst employees – Support teams and employees with AI training programs and develop a positive community to encourage adoption and best practices across your business.
The Value of Structured AI Governance
Gartner found that only 13% of organizations think they currently have the right AI agent governance in place. Additionally, similar studies have warned against the potential of AI-driven threats to today’s businesses.
According to Max Goss, senior director analyst at Gartner, businesses should avoid “blocking or restricting” access to certain AI agents and tools, as employees will simply go around restrictions. This will ultimately present more risks.
Instead, Goss says: “Organizations need to find a balance where they can govern agents and manage sprawl, but also safely empower employees to innovate with these tools.”
