John Willis has worked in the IT management for over 40 years. He is researching DevOps, DevSecOps, IT risk, modern governance, and audit compliance. Previously, he was an Evangelist at Docker Inc., VP of Solutions for Socketplane (sold to Docker) and Enstratius (sold to Dell), and VP of Training & Services at Opscode, where he formalized the training, evangelism, and professional services functions at the firm. Additionally, Willis founded Gulf Breeze Software, an award-winning IBM business partner specializing in Tivoli technology deployment. As an author, Willis has written six IBM Redbooks on enterprise systems management and four books for IT Revolution, including the DevOps Handbook. He is working on his latest book, The Operational History of Generative AI.
When AI agents go rogue: DevOps lessons from the rise of polymorphic AI
As AI agents gain the ability to plan, adapt, and even rewrite themselves, they introduce both new power and new risk to software delivery. This talk looks at real incidents and emerging research to show how polymorphic agents can reconfigure behavior, bypass constraints, and challenge assumptions about "safe" automation. Attendees will learn to recognize red flags and rethink quality in a world where tools don't just follow instructions—they evolve.
