# Qualys CEO Urges AI Agent Security Standards

Qualys President and CEO Sumedh Thakar is calling for an industrywide framework to secure AI agents, suggesting NIST could establish minimum requirements or extend existing standards. The signal identifies no active procurement, funding, solicitation, or standards-development timeline, but points to a possible future need for controls such as agent isolation, network segmentation, and risk mitigation across agencies and federal contractors.

- Agencies and contractors evaluating AI-agent use can assess whether their security approaches address isolation, network segmentation, and agent-specific risks.
- Security providers may find future demand for AI-agent controls if standards or requirements are developed; the signal does not confirm that NIST has begun standards work.
- No contract opportunity, funding source, or deadline is identified, so procurement planning should treat this as an emerging security issue rather than an active solicitation.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Information Technology
**Topics:** Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence
**Published:** October 15, 2026

### Government Entities
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

### Vendors
- Qualys ()

### Sources
- [Qualys CEO Calls for Standards to Secure AI Agents - Security Boulevard](https://securityboulevard.com/2026/10/qualys-ceo-calls-for-standards-to-secure-ai-agents) - Security Boulevard