Autonomous Operations

On the autonomy ladder

 September 30, 2026

I used to describe my position on AI and infrastructure with a simple rule: AI should never operate your infrastructure directly.

The rule was useful, but I do not think it is the right rule anymore.

Language models are not trustworthy enough to receive unrestricted access to production. That part has not changed.

What has changed is the architecture around them. Automation platforms are increasingly being positioned as a trusted execution layer, separating the probabilistic output of an AI system from approval and deterministic execution. That is a better design than letting a model issue arbitrary commands, but it leaves the important question unanswered.