Last week a partner’s CEO emailed us a perfectly formatted RFP request, complete with the executive’s signature block and a cloud‑storage URL that looked legit.
I clicked the URL, watched it silently redirect, and was presented with a fake Microsoft 365 login page asking for my M365 credentials.
Before I acted, I messaged the CEO to verify; within minutes he replied affirmatively, then answered several follow up questions all of which were generated by an autonomous AI agent that was masquerading as him.
Trusting those responses, a colleague proceeded with logging into the site to retrieve the RFP PDF but the colleague who had logged in saw his account compromised.
A week later our colleague resent the same “RFP” email to me, I responded to him letting him know that his email account may have been compromised. He replied to my email insisting everything was fine and confirming that I should log in. Again it was not him but an autonomous AI agent that was masquerading as him.
What this means for senior leaders:
Cyber security and organizational security will be challenging in 2026 as more cyber hackers use AI agents to automate the social engineering process.
Zero‑trust controls must be enforced on every credential request, mandatory MFA is crucial, users should only have conditional access to core systems, and real‑time URL reputation checks are essential.
AI‑enabled phishing requires AI‑augmented defenses where organizations deploy behavioral analytics that flag anomalous redirects and synthetic language patterns in email replies.
Is your organization prepared to verify not just the sender, but the authenticity of every response?
Be safe out there!
#CyberSecurity #AgenticAI #ZeroTrust #DigitalTransformation #Leadership #CISOInsights #DearCEO #CEO