Physical security teams have spent a lot of time and money on solving detection. The value of leveraging AI to detect loitering, perimeter intrusions, off-hours activity, safety requirements and firearms to name just a few is a significant milestone for the industry.
The flipside? It created a mountain of data that wasn't there before, and now requires someone to validate it.
That's where the industry is focused now, and Agentic AI is proving to be the needed answer in dealing with this overflow.
Where things get muddy
The term agentic is getting applied to a wide range of products, which makes it more difficult for buyers to discern between systems that clear false alarms, or push alerts to an operator, from fully autonomous systems that alleviate the manual clicks required to carry an incident forward without delaying response.
How automated is your dashboard?
This is where agentic systems and process automation are separated. When a loitering analytic is tripped, does the system verify the detection and send to an operator queue for recommended next steps? Or, does the system take action, performing human-like voice downs, calling multiple stakeholders in parallel, and logging ongoing activity?
Big difference.
Agentic AI keeps the incident moving, because slowdowns are never beneficial during live security events. The human in the loop paradigm makes sense as long as the security response isn't slowed down waiting for a mouse click.
That's a key distinction in the security industry, because the cost of delay for most industries doesn't involve life safety. When a camera detects criminal activity and that situation waits in a queue instead of being responded to, that's an enhanced alarm management dashboard.
A quick capability test
If you're looking to evaluate an Agentic AI solution that can help you address your security response, here are six things worth thinking about.
1. Does it verify the event?
While detection accuracy has never been better, a response requires verification. This becomes even more important when police or guard response is required.
A system that sends a video to an operator for next steps has produced an expensive alert. Agentic AI not only verifies, but takes the next step.
2. Can it initiate deterrence?
This is where the other solutions start dropping off. While many solutions automate a pre-recorded response, Agentic AI provides a human-like voice down to stop the unwanted activity.
The test here is between recommending deterrence and initiating deterrence autonomously.
3. Does the system run within your SOP?
Many solutions simply trigger predefined actions, and incidents rarely end in a single step. Your SOP might have a specific escalation path that other systems can't execute.
Agentic AI can run within a predefined scope and carry out any necessary steps you give it. Security still owns the guardrails and the system is given enough autonomy to change outcomes.
4. Can it adjust when needed?
A sequential system only follows one automation rule at a time, and can't adjust based on context: a subject leaves and then returns, a security manager doesn't answer their phone, or new activity increases the severity of the event.
Agentic AI is able to monitor the scene while coordinating response with multiple stakeholders. That alleviates the sequential order that other systems are built around.
5. Parallel coordination
We've covered this before in Agentic AI, but it bears repeating since operator response runs sequentially: review, verify, make calls, wait for an answer, continue down the punch list. While competing incidents wait in a queue.
Agentic AI not only monitors all cameras simultaneously throughout the organization, after verifying an incident, it calls three stakeholders in parallel, while managing the event, performing talk downs, and providing updates.
6. Can it manage the event until resolution?
We often use the term orchestration to sum up the steps that Agentic AI takes until resolution. But resolution means more than the threat ended, it refers to the incident report that needs to be created, including what triggered it, steps that were taken and what actions resolved it.
A system that generates a summary but still requires someone else to complete the report leaves one of the biggest manual burdens on operators. Agentic AI, on the other hand, documents everything as the event unfolds, timestamped and defensible for review.
Not a canned demo
Category claims become clearer when a vendor has to respond to a realistic scenario versus a canned demo. Start with the timeline, detection and continue until resolution. Look for areas when someone needs to manually click or approve, because those actions reveal three things: response slowdown, operator cost burden and inability to scale.
A credible solution should find how they can alleviate the manual burden, not help manage it.
"Detection tells you something happened. Agentic AI decides what to do about it, then does it."
Steve Reinharz, CEO/CTO & Founder, RAD
What we've built with SARA
Maybe the biggest key is within the name, speaking autonomous responsive agent. Because most systems are silent, they don't call your team in parallel, or provide updates while performing a talk down.
SARA was designed around response, monitoring all cameras at once, verify events and taking immediate action. The burden to manually review alarms and click a mouse to move an event forward is resolved. Security teams can now apply the scarce resources they have to address real events.
Bottom line
Security leaders can use their own incident response timeline as a litmus test for Agentic AI, asking "what happens when", until they feel they've moved the manual step burden to a level they feel confident in. That's really the last point, a fully capable solution allows you to choose your level of automation, it's not all or nothing. This gives you a point of entry, while also allowing you to gain confidence in the solution.
Thanks for reading.
David Marsh
Vice President of Marketing
Robotic Assistance Devices
linkedin.com/in/davidmarsh
To see how SARA Agentic AI carries verified incidents from detection to resolution, visit radsecurity.com/sara.
