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Execution control for AI agents

Control what AI agents are allowed to execute.

Cots is building an authorization and execution-control layer between AI-agent decisions and consequential enterprise actions.

Evaluate authority, issue exact execution permission, prevent changed or replayed transactions, and produce verifiable evidence of what happened.

Talk to usHow Cots works

The product is currently being built and validated.

Illustrative control path Evaluation
Agent proposesRefund customer $999
CUS-10442
Authority determinedHuman approval required
Review
If authorized
Exact ExecutionGrantTransaction-boundShort-livedOne-use

Approval extends authority. Execution remains a separate, verified step.

01Agent intent
02Authorization
03Exact grant
04Execution
05Verification
06Evidence

Why Cots

AI agents are becoming actors, not just assistants.

As enterprise agents gain access to payments, CRMs, ERPs, databases, and business APIs, the security problem changes.

Knowing who the agent is—or observing what it attempted—is not enough. Enterprises need to determine whether a specific action is authorized before execution and verify that the authorized action is the one that happened.

How Cots works

Authorization built into the execution path.

Five distinct stages keep intent, authority, execution, and evidence connected without collapsing them into one decision.

01

Agent proposes

An AI agent proposes a consequential action with a complete, inspectable payload.

Example: Refund customer $999
02

Authority determined

Cots is designed to evaluate policy, authority, context, and applicable controls.

Allow · Require approval · Block
03

Exact grant issued

If authorized, a precise ExecutionGrant is tied to the approved transaction.

Transaction-bound · Short-lived · One-use
04

Execution verified

At execution time, Cots can check that the action still matches what was authorized.

Changed · Expired · Replayed
05

Evidence recorded

Decision, grant, verification, execution state, and outcome become auditable evidence.

Authorization ≠ execution outcome

One transaction, exact authority

Approval is not execution.

Human review can extend authority for an exact transaction. Cots is designed so that execution happens separately—and only after the approved payload is verified.

Illustrative example · not a live transaction

Action lifecycleRefund · $999
  1. Agent proposesRefund $999 to Customer CUS-10442
    Proposed
  2. Cots determinesHuman approval required
    Review
  3. ApproverApproves the exact transaction
    Authorized
Authorization boundaryApproval does not execute the refund
Cots issuesFresh one-use ExecutionGrant
Exact payloadShort expiryOne use
If payload changesExecution refused
If grant is replayedReplay refused
If execution succeedsActionReceipt recorded

Core capabilities

Control designed for consequential actions.

Cots is being developed as focused infrastructure at the point where agent intent becomes real-world execution.

01

Pre-execution authorization

Evaluate a proposed action before it reaches a consequential system.

02

Policy & authority

Apply role, context, policy, limits, and approval requirements to the exact action.

03

Exact execution permission

Issue transaction-specific permission designed to be short-lived and one-use.

04

Transaction integrity

Verify that what executes is exactly what was authorized—and refuse changed or replayed attempts.

05

Human review

Escalate defined exceptions while keeping approval and execution as separate events.

06

Execution evidence

Maintain clear records of decisions, grants, verification, and resulting execution outcomes.

Observation mode

Where appropriate, Cots may evaluate actions without enforcing them. Observation-only results must remain clearly distinct from prevention or execution.

Target environments

Where actions carry real consequences.

Designed for environments where agent actions can create financial, operational, or compliance consequences.

  • Financial services
  • Insurance
  • Healthcare
  • Enterprise finance
  • Procurement
  • Regulated operations
  • Critical workflows

Company

Early-stage. Engineering-led. Focused on correctness.

Cots.ai is building and validating authorization and execution infrastructure for autonomous and AI-agent systems.

About Cots

Careers

Build the runtime between AI intent and real-world execution.

We are looking for a senior backend and distributed-systems engineer to work on the core control path.

View the open role

Start a conversation

Working on consequential agent actions?

We are speaking with enterprise leaders, domain experts, and engineers who care about authorization, transaction integrity, and controlled execution.

Talk to us