SHARED TERM NOTE
A shared industry term. What this book adds is its measurement against an authorization register rather than against an inventory.
- What it is
- The accumulation of agents faster than any function can account for them.
- What it is not
- Not shadow IT renamed. Most sprawl is sanctioned, licensed, and visible. It is unauthorized, not unknown.
- The evidence it produces
- The gap between the platform's count and the register's count.
- Who is accountable
- Whoever permitted creation without an intake step, which is usually no one in particular.
- The examination question it answers
- Of the agents running today, how many entered through a gate?
CANONICAL EXAMPLE
Microsoft's Cyber Pulse report found that over 80% of Fortune 500 companies are deploying active agents built with low-code tools, while only 47% have implemented GenAI security controls. The gap between those two numbers is Agent Sprawl at enterprise scale.
USAGE GUIDANCE FOR CONTENT
Use Agent Sprawl to name the organizational condition before describing the specific governance failure or incident. It is most effective in posts and newsletter editions that open with a statistic — the Microsoft 80% / 47% gap is the canonical supporting data point. Do not use it to describe a technology malfunction. It is always an organizational and governance term.