Inside the SaaS AI Shift with Kristi Perdue features Tom Donlea, Vice President at Vouched, for a deep conversation about agentic AI, digital identity, fraud prevention, AI governance, and the growing need to verify AI agents before they can act on behalf of users.
As AI agents move beyond answering questions and begin making purchases, accessing data, interacting with websites, and taking real-world actions, businesses face a critical question: how do you know what an AI agent is, who authorized it, and what it is allowed to do?
Tom Donlea brings decades of experience across payments, fraud prevention, digital identity, and commerce to explore the risks and opportunities surrounding agentic commerce. He explains how AI agents could dramatically increase the scale of fraud, why traditional bot detection is no longer enough, and why businesses need new identity and trust frameworks for the agentic era.
In this episode, Kristi and Tom discuss:
• Why agentic AI changes the traditional model of identity and access control
• How AI agents could become a powerful new attack vector for fraud
• Agentic commerce and the future of AI-powered shopping
• Why businesses need to verify the identity, authorization, and reputation of AI agents
• The financial and legal risks when an AI agent makes an unauthorized transaction
• AI agents accessing sensitive healthcare and financial information
• AI governance challenges for enterprises adopting agentic AI
• How SaaS companies can prepare for agentic traffic
• The importance of human oversight and guardrails for AI agents
• How businesses can distinguish between humans, bots, and AI agents
• The role of digital identity in building trusted AI ecosystems
• Vouched's work on agent identity standards and the Know Your Agent concept
• Why companies should start testing agentic traffic before it reaches critical mass
• How AI is changing search, marketing, and the way customers discover businesses
• What SaaS leaders should be doing now to prepare for the next 24 months of AI adoption
Tom also shares practical advice for organizations considering AI agents, including why companies should test their agents thoroughly, involve risk-focused teams early, and understand exactly what an agent can access and do before allowing it to act independently.
If you're a SaaS executive, technology leader, CISO, CFO, fraud professional, marketer, or AI strategist thinking about agentic AI, AI governance, digital identity, or the future of enterprise software, this conversation offers a practical look at what needs to happen before AI agents become trusted digital employees.
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Guest: Tom Donlea
Vice President, Vouched
Host: Kristi Perdue
Inside the SaaS AI Shift
Connect with Tom Donlea on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tdonlea/
#AgenticAI #AI #AIGovernance #DigitalIdentity #AIIdentity #AgenticCommerce #FraudPrevention #SaaS #EnterpriseAI #Cybersecurity #Vouched #ArtificialIntelligence
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- Kristi and the Inside the SaaS AI Shift podcast team
Kristi's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristiperdue/
AlterBridge Strategies website: https://alterbridgestrategies.com/
#saasaigovernance #aigovernance #aistrategy #saasleadership #aiexecution #ciso #airoi #aiforsaas #executiveleadership #aicompliance #saasgrowth #aitransformation #boardgovernance #ai #saas
AI is changing the SaaS business itself - from what companies build and monetize to what enterprise buyers are willing to trust. Inside the SaaS AI Shift is the executive decision making podcast for leaders responsible for what comes next.
Host Kristi Perdue brings more than 30 years of SaaS experience and credentials as a Certified Chief AI Officer (CAIO) and Certified Information Governance Officer for AI (CIGO/ AI). As founder of AlterBridge Strategies and creator of Power Moves AI™, she gets past the demos and into the decisions reshaping enterprise software.
Each episode examines the consequential choices behind the shift: how AI changes product strategy and the SaaS business model, where anticipated ROI breaks down, when governance must become operational, and what enterprise buyers will require before they trust AI at scale.
Through candid conversations with executives doing the work, the show surfaces the tradeoffs and hard-earned lessons behind those decisions. It is built for SaaS founders, CEOs, product leaders, and executive teams preparing to lead through a fundamental transformation of the SaaS business.
What is Inside the SaaS AI Shift?
Inside the SaaS AI Shift is the executive decision-making podcast for SaaS leaders navigating how AI is reshaping products, business models, buyer trust, and growth. Host Kristi Perdue, a 30-plus-year SaaS operator and certified CAIO and CIGO/AI, gets past the demos with executives making the consequential choices behind AI strategy, governance, and execution.