Cognous Launches Open-Source Stack to Govern and Audit AI Agent Actions

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As organizations increasingly rely on AI agents to perform real-world tasks like sending emails and querying databases, the lack of oversight creates significant operational and reputational risks. Cognous has released the Open Control Stack, a fully open-source framework designed to govern AI agent behavior before actions are executed, not after. The stack consists of four components — Declare, Control, Replay, and Evidence — covering three core capabilities: authorizing what an agent can do, enforcing those rules in real time, and producing auditable records on demand. Unlike traditional application logs that only reveal what happened after the fact, the stack sits in front of agents to proactively allow, block, or escalate actions based on pre-defined rules. The initiative aims to give teams granular, action-level control over AI agents rather than applying a single blanket policy across all agent behavior.

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