Agentic AI: Principles and Practices for Ethical Governance

Agentic AI: Principles and Practices for Ethical Governance presents a comprehensive framework for understanding, designing, and regulating artificial intelligence systems that exhibit agency—those capable of autonomous perception, reasoning, and action. The book explores foundational concepts such as machine intentionality, goal formation, and ethical reasoning, highlighting the unique challenges posed by AI systems that go beyond passive automation.

Through a multidisciplinary lens, the text examines ethical principles including transparency, accountability, fairness, and human dignity, applying them to real-world scenarios across healthcare, finance, law, and military domains. It delves into the dynamics of human-AI interaction, control mechanisms like human-in-the-loop design, and the role of explainability in building trust.

The design and engineering of agentic AI systems are analyzed through value-sensitive design, ethical simulation, and alignment strategies aimed at preventing issues like reward hacking or misaligned objectives. Governance models are laid out for ensuring safety, robustness, and adaptability, supported by global regulatory frameworks and policy instruments.

A forward-looking section focuses on stakeholder co-design, scalable governance, and building a just and sustainable AI ecosystem. It argues for inclusive development, environmental responsibility, and democratic oversight, emphasizing the long-term social, ecological, and economic impacts of agentic systems.

By integrating ethics, engineering, policy, and societal perspectives, the book offers a blueprint for steering agentic AI toward futures that respect human rights, foster global equity, and safeguard our shared planet. It is both a call to action and a roadmap for ethical innovation in the age of intelligent machines.