Choose an AI agent platform by proving that each agent has a distinct, accountable identity; that its effective permissions are limited across tools and downstream systems; and that logs let you reconstruct what it did, under whose authority, and to which resource. Then verify who operates the remaining security controls. A permissions screen or an “audit logs” feature label is not enough: test the actual deployment and inspect an exported log before committing.
The vendor capabilities below reflect official documentation reviewed as of October 7, 2026. They illustrate what to verify; they are not an independent product test or a ranking. Plan eligibility, event coverage, retention, regional availability, and contract terms can vary, so confirm them for your intended tenant and deployment.
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What should you require from an agent platform?
Evaluate the effective security boundary, not just the platform’s feature list. An agent may inherit access through its identity, assigned roles, tools, plugins, integrations, or downstream services. A narrow setting in one interface does not establish that the workflow is least-privileged end to end.
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- Distinct identity and ownership: Each agent should have an identity that is distinguishable from human users and other agents, a named owner or sponsor, a lifecycle, and a practical disablement or revocation path. Shared credentials make it harder to limit access and determine who or what acted.
- Task- and resource-level authorization: Scope access to the workflow’s actual needs, including which tools it may invoke and which resources those tools may reach. Check authorization again at the downstream service rather than assuming the agent platform’s controls are the only boundary.
- Useful audit evidence: Establish which events are captured, which fields identify the actor and affected resource, and who can read or export each log class. Auditability depends on event coverage and access configuration, not merely on having a log feature.
- Clear operational responsibility: Identify which controls the vendor operates and which remain yours, including agent logic, tools, data, memory, identity, and authorization.
Use the same workflow and threat assumptions when comparing platforms. That makes differences in identity, permissions, logging, and operating effort easier to see.
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How do you compare identity, permissions, and logs?
Use this checklist for every candidate. Ask for demonstrations and evidence from the specific product surface and deployment you plan to use; capabilities in one product do not automatically apply to another.
1. Verify identity and lifecycle
- Can each agent use its own identity instead of a shared human account or API key?
- Can you name an owner or sponsor and an approver, and review those assignments over time?
- Can you disable or revoke an agent’s access promptly, including credentials and downstream grants?
- If an agent acts on a user’s behalf, can the system preserve both the agent identity and the relevant user context?
2. Trace the effective permission boundary
- List the access granted through roles, tools, plugins, integrations, and downstream services, then determine the combined effective permissions.
- Confirm that tools and resources can be allowlisted for the workflow and that unreviewed paths can be denied by default.
- Check whether downstream systems independently authorize each call and whether high-impact actions can require approval.
- Ask how temporary elevation works, who approves it, and whether it is logged.
3. Map the audit trail to your investigations
For each event class you need, confirm whether the record includes the actor, resource, action, outcome, timestamp, and correlation context. Ask specifically about authentication, administrative and policy changes, tool or action calls, relevant data access, and denied requests. If an agent uses a person’s authority, establish whether the log distinguishes the agent from the on-behalf-of user.
Also verify who can view and export logs, how logs reach your monitoring or compliance systems, how long they are retained under your plan and contract, and whether the records are protected against alteration. Do not infer that an event is captured simply because the vendor offers an audit log.
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These examples show why platform evaluation must be product- and configuration-specific. The capabilities described are from the vendors’ official documentation reviewed October 7, 2026; confirm current availability and scope directly for your deployment.
| Vendor | Documented control examples | What to verify for your deployment |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | OpenAI’s business-data documentation describes custom group roles for ChatGPT Enterprise, Edu, and Healthcare that can set permissions for ChatGPT Work, Codex, connected tools, and workspace agents. It describes API Projects and Project Limits as controls for granular access, usage, and spend, and the Audit Logs API as providing visibility into security and compliance risks. The Compliance Platform documentation says it is available to ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu workspaces and describes workspace-scoped Admin keys, supported log categories, and immutable, append-only compliance log events. | Do not treat API project controls and workspace roles as the same control surface. Confirm the applicable plan, supported event categories, key permissions, event coverage, and retention. |
| Microsoft | Microsoft Entra’s AI security guidance describes an identity control plane for agent identities, lifecycle and governance, Conditional Access, and logging of agent authentication and actions. Its least-privilege guidance recommends a dedicated agent identity with a named owner or sponsor and approver, review of aggregate and effective permissions, denial of unreviewed tools by default, and logging identity, role, effective scope, action, resource, correlation ID, and on-behalf-of user. | Check how the recommendations map to the exact agent product, tools, and connected services you will use. Test revocation and inspect effective permissions, rather than relying on role configuration alone. |
| Google Cloud | Google Cloud Agent Platform documentation identifies Admin Activity, Data Access, Policy Denied, and System Event audit-log classes. It says Admin Activity and System Event logs are always enabled; Data Access logs are disabled by default unless enabled, with a stated BigQuery exception. IAM roles control log access. | Verify that required data-access logging is enabled for the relevant service and resource. Google’s documentation says Logs Viewer alone does not expose Data Access logs in the default bucket, while Private Logs Viewer includes that access. Check how the agent’s actual actions map to the log classes and permissions. |
| AWS | AWS’s Well-Architected Agentic AI Lens recommends verifiable agent-to-agent and agent-to-service authentication, distinct service identities, and audit trails that distinguish agent actions from human actions. It flags shared API keys, long-lived credentials, broad or reused roles, unclear attribution, and reactive permission expansion as risks to avoid. | Determine how the recommendations are implemented across your AWS services and connected systems, and verify that the resulting records identify the agent and any human actor unambiguously. |
These are documentation examples, not proof that any one platform captures every event your organization needs. The documentation does not settle buyer-specific pricing, contract terms, retention, regional availability, or event coverage in a particular tenant.
How does the deployment model change your responsibilities?
The more of the agent’s security-critical design and operation you control, the more you must secure and maintain. Microsoft’s shared-responsibility guidance distinguishes among SaaS, managed PaaS, and self-managed IaaS. It recommends starting with a suitable SaaS agent, considering managed PaaS when SaaS is insufficient and the team can own more of the system, and using IaaS only with deep security and identity expertise. That is Microsoft’s guidance, not a universal architecture rule.
- SaaS: Identify which identity, logging, authorization, and lifecycle controls the vendor provides and which you must configure or govern.
- Managed PaaS: Establish who owns agent logic, tools, permissions, memory, identity, and authorization, as well as the integration and monitoring work.
- Self-managed IaaS: Account for the security and identity expertise, operating processes, and ongoing control maintenance your team must supply.
For any model, write down the owner for each control. A platform with extensive settings may still be a poor fit if your team cannot operate them consistently.
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Run a proof of concept using the real workflow, representative resources, and the identity and monitoring integrations you expect to use. Test behavior, not just the configuration screen.
- Record the intended access: Define which resources and actions the agent needs, which must be denied, and which require human approval. Record the agent owner and identity.
- Test permitted and denied actions: Exercise allowed calls, attempted access to an unapproved tool or resource, and downstream authorization. Confirm that denied attempts do not succeed through another integration path.
- Exercise sensitive actions: Trigger the approval path for high-impact operations and verify that the approver, agent, action, and outcome are recorded.
- Revoke and rotate: Disable the agent, revoke its access, and rotate its credentials. Check that access stops across relevant tools and downstream services, not just in the platform’s user interface.
- Retrieve and inspect the logs: Export representative events, including a denial and an administrative change. Check actor, resource, action, outcome, timestamps, and correlation context; confirm that the intended staff can access the necessary log classes.
- Review the operating handoff: Confirm who monitors, investigates, retains, and exports records, and who handles access reviews and policy changes after launch.
Resolve gaps before production. If a required event cannot be demonstrated in an export, treat its coverage as unverified rather than assuming the feature label guarantees it.
How do you make the final choice?
First eliminate candidates that cannot demonstrate distinct identities, effective least-privilege access, the audit events and fields your investigations require, or a workable revocation path. Among the remaining options, compare how well their controls fit your existing identity, cloud, monitoring, and compliance processes—and how much lifecycle and access-review work your team can sustain.
Document the decision against the exact product, plan, deployment, and contract. Recheck volatile capabilities before procurement and retain the proof-of-concept log export as evidence of what your intended configuration actually records.
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