Agentic AI Demands a Reimagining of Digital Resilience, Says Splunk SVP

Digital resilience, the ability to withstand and recover from digital disruptions, is gaining urgency with the rise of agentic AI. These autonomous systems, capable of proactive planning and execution, introduce new challenges to service continuity, security, and cost control. While AI investment is projected to reach $1.5 trillion in 2025, many business leaders lack confidence in their organization's ability to handle unexpected events. Organizations are turning to data fabrics—integrated architectures connecting and governing information across business layers—to address these challenges. Machine data, including logs and metrics from devices and systems, is crucial for agentic AI to understand context and adapt continuously. Kamal Hathi, SVP at Splunk, a Cisco company, stresses that agentic AI systems rely on real-time access to this data to drive digital resilience. However, few organizations have the machine data integration needed to fully enable agentic systems, potentially leading to errors and limited capabilities. To improve digital resilience, Hathi recommends a data fabric design that integrates fragmented assets from security, IT, business operations, and the network. This involves breaking down data silos, implementing a federated data architecture for unified data access, and upgrading data platforms to handle unstructured data streams. AI itself can aid in creating data fabrics by identifying relationships between disparate data and correcting errors. Agentic AI can also augment human capabilities in detecting anomalies, enhancing overall digital resilience. Hathi emphasizes that while AI enhances decision-making, human oversight remains essential for trustworthy AI use, positioning it as assistive intelligence.