Who's Afraid of Agentic AI? How to Compare, Purchase, and Deploy Agents Responsibly

Over the past six months, the AI boom has grown even more chaotic. Startups frequently overpromise, while the public sector falls ever further behind in understanding, let alone adopting AI capabilities. In this dynamic, IT specialists and procurement teams struggle on two fronts: 1) how to distinguish the signal from the noise in AI development; 2) what specific tools (if any) are the right fit for their specific organizational needs. In this workshop Thomas Gilbert will lessons learned from where AI procurement is likely to go wrong, and what IT teams, CIOs, and policymakers can do to make it go better.He will also give an update on the platform Hortus Trellis (now in open beta) which strives to address these problems on multiple fronts in the form of a marketplace that transparently ranks AI products based on their alignment with public interests. This session is ideal for public technology leaders, innovation officers, and purchasing teams who wish to learn how to make informed decisions about the safety and performance of agentic AI products.