Saviynt Launches New Tool to Manage AI Agents Like Employees

A cybersecurity company called Saviynt has launched a new product to help businesses manage their artificial intelligence agents. AI agents are computer programs that complete tasks on their own, without a person doing each step. As more companies use AI, keeping track of all those programs has become a serious challenge. Saviynt's new tool, called Zuma, is designed to work like a human resources department — but for AI programs instead of people.

Saviynt has been growing very fast. Last month, the company reached $300 million in money earned every year from its customers. That happened less than a year after it crossed $200 million. A $700 million investment from a firm called KKR helped the company grow its customer base quickly and pushed Saviynt's total value to $3 billion.

A few years ago, a large company might have had just a few AI programs running alongside its workers. Today, some companies have more than 50 AI agents for every one employee — sometimes as many as 200. That is a huge number of programs to manage, and it can be very hard to make sure they are all working safely and correctly.

Zuma is Saviynt's solution to this problem. The name is inspired by Zuma Beach, a famous spot near the company's Southern California headquarters. The product helps companies discover, manage, and protect their AI agents by setting rules for what each one is allowed to do. Without those rules, AI programs could make serious mistakes or cause major damage to a business.

Sachin Nayyar founded Saviynt in 2011 but stepped away from running it in 2018 to work on another startup. He returned as CEO in 2023 with a fresh focus and a calm mindset. The company now employs about 1,500 people worldwide, and Nayyar personally interviews about one in four new hires. He was recently named Greater Los Angeles EY Entrepreneur of the Year for his leadership of a fast-growing company.

Saviynt has mostly served large businesses in industries like banking and healthcare. But Zuma could open the door to smaller companies too, since even small businesses now use many AI agents. President Paul Zolfaghari said the product will help Saviynt reach a much wider range of customers. A recent survey found that companies have given 50% more of their workers access to AI tools in just one year.

The Saviynt team had to build Zuma from the ground up because older tools were made for humans, not AI. Chief Product Officer Vibhuti Sinha said managing AI identities is the biggest shift she has seen in her career. AI agents can range from programs that need human approval for every action to fully automatic ones that work on their own. Those independent agents are the hardest to keep safe, and Sinha says they must be watched around the clock.