Safer Agentic AI
Principles and Responsible Practices
1st Edition
Published on 3. January 2026
336 pages
978-1-3986-2544-0 (ISBN)
Description
Implement advanced and agentic AI with confidence, control and strategic foresight.
Safer Agentic AI is a guide for senior technology and business professionals who must deploy the most advanced AI systems in ways that accelerate innovation while preventing critical business, ethical and societal risks. Written by AI ethics and safety experts Nell Watson and Ali Hessami, this book shows senior professionals how to harness agentic and autonomous AI responsibly, ensuring systems remain aligned with organizational values, strategic objectives and human oversight.
Combining technical insight with practical governance, it equips leaders to assess capability, anticipate emerging risks and design controls that enable safe adoption at scale.
You'll learn how to:
- Align agentic AI systems with business goals, values and long-term strategy
- Strengthen transparency, governance and oversight across increasingly autonomous workflows
- Maintain meaningful human control over high-impact systems and decisions
- Apply practical frameworks for risk management, value alignment and ethical safeguards
With clear explanations and actionable tools, Safer Agentic AI helps senior leaders deploy advanced AI that enhances productivity, protects organizational integrity and positions the business to innovate confidently and responsibly.
Themes include: AI governance, agentic AI, risk management, value alignment, transparency, ethical AI, organizational resilience, advanced AI
Safer Agentic AI is a guide for senior technology and business professionals who must deploy the most advanced AI systems in ways that accelerate innovation while preventing critical business, ethical and societal risks. Written by AI ethics and safety experts Nell Watson and Ali Hessami, this book shows senior professionals how to harness agentic and autonomous AI responsibly, ensuring systems remain aligned with organizational values, strategic objectives and human oversight.
Combining technical insight with practical governance, it equips leaders to assess capability, anticipate emerging risks and design controls that enable safe adoption at scale.
You'll learn how to:
- Align agentic AI systems with business goals, values and long-term strategy
- Strengthen transparency, governance and oversight across increasingly autonomous workflows
- Maintain meaningful human control over high-impact systems and decisions
- Apply practical frameworks for risk management, value alignment and ethical safeguards
With clear explanations and actionable tools, Safer Agentic AI helps senior leaders deploy advanced AI that enhances productivity, protects organizational integrity and positions the business to innovate confidently and responsibly.
Themes include: AI governance, agentic AI, risk management, value alignment, transparency, ethical AI, organizational resilience, advanced AI
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
File size
3,61 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-3986-2544-0 (9781398625440)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
01/2026
1st Edition
Kogan Page Ltd
€68.10
Shipment within 10-20 days
Book
01/2026
1st Edition
Kogan Page Ltd
€44.80
Shipment within 10-20 days
Persons
Nell Watson is a researcher and applied tech ethicist. She advises organizations on their machine learning strategies, specializing in AI research and ethical advocacy. She is President of the European Responsible AI Office and the author of Taming the Machine published by Kogan Page. She lives in Belfast, UK.
Ali Hessami is a systems engineer specializing in risk analysis, assessment and safety. He is Vice Chair of the IEEE AI Ethics Certification Programme and Chair of the IEEE 7000 AI Ethics Standard. He lives in London, UK.
Ali Hessami is a systems engineer specializing in risk analysis, assessment and safety. He is Vice Chair of the IEEE AI Ethics Certification Programme and Chair of the IEEE 7000 AI Ethics Standard. He lives in London, UK.
Content
Chapter - 00: Introduction; Section - ONE: The dawn of agency; Chapter - 01: AI overview; Section - 02: The age of agentic AI; Section - TWO: The core alignment problem; Section - 03: Goal alignment of agentic AI systems; Chapter - 04: Value alignment and embedding ethics; Chapter - 05: Deceptive and power-seeking AI; Chapter - 06: Utility convergence; Section - THREE: The governance and safety toolkit; Chapter - 07: Safety fundamentals; Chapter - 08: Security and guardrails; Chapter - 09: Agentic conflict; Chapter - 10: Transparency and interpretability; Chapter - 11: AI governance; Chapter - 12: Weighted capability governance; Section - FOUR: The human and societal interface; Chapter - 13: Working with agentic AI; Chapter - 14: Psychosecurity; Chapter - 15: Who goes there?; Chapter - 16: Self-watching machines; Chapter - 17: Sustainability and resource stewardship; Section - FIVE: The uncharted frontier; Chapter - 18: Disruptive waves; Chapter - 19: Frontier concerns; Chapter - 20: Superintelligence strategy; Chapter - 21: Ten principles for a positive future; Chapter - 22: Further resources; Chapter - 23: Glossary;
