Next steps

Engagement, guidance development and collaboration

This report reflects our early-stage thinking on speculative opportunities and risks. You should not read it as ICO guidance or an explanation of our regulatory expectations on agentic AI. We welcome contact from any stakeholders wishing to continue the conversation. We encourage organisations that want to contribute to our future thinking on agentic AI to contact us at: [email protected].

We commit to holding workshops with industry to gather further information on agentic AI, including on agentic capabilities and adoption, and how industry is mitigating data protection and privacy risks.

AI continues to be a priority for us. We have several strands of ongoing work set out in our AI and biometrics strategy with implications for agentic AI.

We are developing a statutory code on AI and ADM with implications for agentic AI. If organisations have evidence relating to agentic AI they wish to submit for our consideration in the context of developing the code, they can contact [email protected].

We will start our process to update guidance on ADM and profiling, in light of the Data (Use and Access) Act, with public consultations in 2026.

We will continue to work with stakeholders to further our understanding of agentic AI and to promote data protection by design and default in the development of agentic technologies. We will continue to monitor the market for new developments, identify key stakeholders and take action where we have concerns about data protection compliance.

We will continue to work with innovators developing agentic AI products and services. We encourage stakeholders working on agentic AI applications to access our free innovation support services. For organisations that are in the process of developing innovative products and services using personal information and agentic AI in the public interest, we would encourage them to explore our Regulatory Sandbox.

Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF)

Working with partner regulators through the DRCF, we will continue to further our understanding of the effects and impacts of agentic AI in both the workplace and the home.

The DRCF has recently announced the launch of a Thematic Innovation Hub offering tailored engagement and regulatory advice on priority topics, the first focus of which will be agentic AI. The intent is to develop our collective understanding of how one another’s regulatory regimes might apply to AI, and work to identify and resolve any points of conflict.

The DRCF’s Horizon scanning and emerging technology work anticipates developments in technology and their regulatory implications. The workstream helps regulators proactively anticipate the changing technological landscape and gives the industry early awareness of regulatory implications relevant to their innovations. This year, the DRCF will consider agentic AI to understand how it may develop and the implications for regulators and industry. The DRCF will produce a public output in 2026.

International engagement

During 2025, we introduced the theme of agentic AI into discussions at the G7 Emerging Technologies Working Group and welcomed the sharing of experience and expertise in this emerging area. We will continue engaging with our international counterparts to identify collaborative opportunities to further discuss and consider the data protection implications, risks and opportunities posed by agentic AI.