SOAR Is Out, Agents Are In: Why 2025 Is the Year of Agentic AI
FreePik.com
For years, security operations teams have relied on Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) platforms to handle repetitive tasks and speed up incident response. But things are changing. Attackers are becoming more sophisticated. Attacks are growing more frequent. Tooling must keep up or get out of the way. SOAR just doesn’t cut it anymore.
SOCs aren’t just automating workflows anymore. They’re moving toward autonomy. They’re outsourcing decision-making to AI agents.
From Playbooks to Decision-Makers
SOAR was born out of necessity. As alert fatigue worsened and talent pools shrunk, teams needed a way to triage faster. SOAR delivered by automating pre-scripted responses and stitching together tools with workflows. But it had one big flaw: it wasn’t actually intelligent.
Every action had to be manually configured. Every decision followed a linear, rule-based path. If an alert didn’t fit the playbook, the system broke down; or worse, did nothing. In today’s threat landscape, where novel and evasive attacks dominate, rigid workflows aren’t just inefficient, they’re dangerous.
Agentic AI changes that. These autonomous systems don’t follow static instructions. They assess context, weigh multiple options, and choose the most effective course of action – all without human intervention. They make AI-powered SOCs possible.
This shift is redefining what response looks like. Agentic systems don’t just pull levers faster; they decide which levers matter. They chain together novel actions based on context, even when facing previously unseen threats. That makes them far more effective than legacy automation at handling gray areas – exactly where attackers thrive.
What Makes Agentic AI Different?
At its core, agentic AI refers to systems that can take initiative, pursue goals, and adapt dynamically to new situations. In the SOC, that means agents that can:
- Ingest and interpret complex data across domains
- Evaluate multiple response paths based on situational variables
- Communicate and collaborate across systems – without needing a predefined script
- Learn from previous outcomes and improve over time
According to Prophet Security, a leading AI SOC platform, agentic AI “doesn’t just act faster – it acts smarter. It brings context and judgement to automation.”
That judgment is crucial. While SOAR was about execution, agentic AI is about strategy. It doesn’t just run on pre-built playbooks; it decides which playbook, if any, is appropriate as it gathers and reasons through the evidence.
Real Autonomy, Real Impact
Imagine an agent embedded in your SOC that receives a high-confidence alert from an EDR platform. Instead of waiting for a predefined rule to trigger a ticket or isolate the host, the agent checks the asset’s criticality, reviews recent behavior, pulls in threat intel, queries log data, and decides whether containment is warranted. If so, it acts. If not, it documents its reasoning and monitors further.
That’s not just automation. That’s decision-making.
And unlike traditional automation, agentic systems don’t require constant tuning. Their autonomy makes them more resilient to alert variability, tooling changes, and human bottlenecks.
They’re not just streamlining workflows, they’re absorbing operational burden, freeing up analysts to focus on what humans do best: strategic thinking, threat hunting, and exception handling.
Why 2025 is the Tipping Point
So, why is this shift happening now? A few reasons:
- The complexity of modern environments has overwhelmed static automation. Multi-cloud, hybrid, remote-first architecture introduces too much variability for rule-based systems to manage.
- AI maturity has reached a point where large language models (LLMs), machine learning (ML) algorithms, and agentic architectures can process ambiguity and nuance at near-human levels.
- SOC fatigue is real. Burnout among analysts is pushing organizations to look beyond optimization and toward true operational offloading. In fact, a SANS Institute report, 55% of SOC staff have seriously considered quitting due to overwhelming alert volumes, tool sprawl, and insufficient downtime.
- Boards and regulators are demanding faster, more accountable incident response. AI agents provide detailed decision logs, enabling both speed and transparency.
What SOC Leaders Should Do Next
If you’re still relying on rigid playbooks and rule chains, it’s time to rethink your approach. Agentic AI isn’t a future trend – it’s already reshaping how the best SOCs operate.
Start by asking:
- Where are we still relying on manual triage or decision trees
- How adaptable is our current automation strategy?
- Are our tools integrated? Or truly collaborative?
Look for platforms that treat AI not just as a filter or assistant, but as an agent. A system that understands goals, adjusts actions in real time, and can explain its decisions afterward.
Because in a world where speed and adaptability win, agents aren’t optional. They’re essential.
About Author
