InformationWeek

CIOs and CTOs should audit vendor demos by requesting production metrics—ask for uptime percentages, error rates, and how the system handles edge cases rather than polished benchmarks. Real AI agents have documented failure modes; fake claims avoid specifics about when they don't work.

The authentication test is whether an AI agent can handle decision-making without human handoff in your specific workflows. Fake agents require constant human validation or only work on toy problems. Ask vendors to run a pilot on your actual data volume and complexity, not their sample datasets.

Red flags include vendors using terms like 'autonomous' without defining scope, refusing to discuss hallucination rates or data privacy constraints, or showing only success cases. Real agents come with transparent documentation about what they can't do and require integration with your existing systems—not standalone magic boxes.