In a recent interview, Accenture’s cybersecurity leadership emphasised that the rise of agentic AI systems—autonomous agents capable of executing complex tasks without explicit human instruction—raises a new form of technical liability: the layering of unmanaged tech debt beneath these advanced AI platforms. They explain that many organisations rushed into adopting AI capabilities without first modernising their core infrastructure or retiring outdated systems, and now this creates fragility: legacy platforms struggle to support agent-driven workflows and amplify downstream risk.
The article outlines that agentic AI changes the risk profile: because these systems execute tasks across multiple domains (data access, decision-making, execution), the underlying stack must be robust, traceable and agile. Any hidden legacy dependencies—old data warehouses, brittle APIs, poor data governance—become weak links. The cyber lead warns that unchecked tech debt not only hampers performance but also exposes enterprises to new vulnerabilities (for instance, uncontrolled agent behaviours, cascading errors, model drift, unintended actions).
Moreover, the piece argues that managing tech debt is now a strategic cybersecurity imperative rather than purely an IT project. Firms must inventory legacy assets, map them into AI-agent workflows, identify “shadow dependencies” and assess them for suitability, resilience and governance. The cyber team at Accenture recommends allocating a portion of the AI transformation budget specifically to technical debt remediation—so that agentic systems don’t sit atop shaky foundations.
Finally, the interview concludes with a call to action: organisations operating (or planning to) agentic AI must embrace a dual agenda—innovate fast, but also stabilise the base. Without managing tech debt proactively, the promise of AI at scale will be undermined by downtime, risk exposure or compliance failures. In the cyber-agent era, the message is clear: your future architecture must support your autonomous systems and secure them.
