In January 2026, Singapore's IMDA launched a voluntary Model AI Governance Framework for Agentic AI, announced at Davos. It builds on the 2020 Model AI Governance Framework. It is reported to rest on four ideas: bound the risks upfront, keep humans accountable, use technical controls, and make end users responsible for their part. It is guidance, not law, but it is a sensible structure for any business putting an agent to work. Read the full framework on IMDA's own website before relying on this summary.
1. Bound the risks upfront
- Write down what the agent is allowed to do, and what it is not.
- Limit its access: only the systems and data it needs, with read-only access where possible.
- Set hard limits: spending caps, number of actions per run, and no deleting data.
2. Keep a human accountable
- Name one person who owns the agent and its results.
- Require approval for important steps: sending money, contacting customers in new ways, changing records.
- Make sure the agent can say when it is unsure and pass the case to a person.
3. Use technical controls
- Keep logs of what the agent saw, decided and did, so you can review mistakes.
- Test with real examples before launch, and again after every change of model or prompt.
- Protect against prompt injection, where text in an email or web page tries to give the agent new orders.
- Have a switch to stop the agent quickly.
4. Be clear with the people who use it
- Tell customers and staff when they are dealing with an AI agent.
- Give a simple way to reach a person.
- Train staff on what the agent does and how to correct it.
A one page start
For a small business, a one page document is enough: the agent's purpose, its permissions, who approves what, where logs are kept, how it is tested, and how to turn it off. Review it every quarter or when anything changes.
Also remember existing duties such as the PDPA for personal data. A voluntary AI framework does not replace them.
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