Smartsheet adds AI agents & controls to work platform

Smartsheet has introduced new AI agents, integrations and security controls to its work management platform. The updates were unveiled at the company's annual ENGAGE customer conference.

The additions include agent-based workflow tools for routine project tasks, new connections to business software platforms, and governance features designed to give IT teams more oversight of how AI uses company data.

The product changes are intended to address what Smartsheet calls "execution drift" - the gap between planned work and actual delivery. As businesses add more AI tools, partners and systems, the company argued, they can lose visibility over ownership, delays and recent project changes.

Among the main launches were Agentic Workflows, which let users turn plain-language requests into recurring automated tasks. These workflows can generate items such as weekly project summaries or checks on risks and dependencies using live project data and existing user permissions.

Smartsheet also launched specialised AI agents for more targeted tasks. The Creation Agent builds project structures such as sheets, dashboards, reports and automations from a stated goal, while the Data Quality Agent reviews sheets and flags issues by severity, either on demand or on a schedule.

Both tools are now available.

Data links

Smartsheet has added native integrations with ServiceNow, Microsoft Dynamics 365, HubSpot and Workday. These are designed to keep data synchronised between systems without manual updates.

It also announced an Integration Agent in early access. Starting with GitHub, Zendesk, Airtable and Monday.com, the feature is intended to let customers bring in data from external tools through a natural-language request rather than a longer manual integration project.

Smartsheet said it already connects 277 billion rows of work data each month across its platform.

Controls

The security and governance updates focused on oversight of AI activity and data handling. Smartsheet said it had obtained ISO/IEC 42001 certification for responsible AI management and completed an IRAP assessment against the Australian government's security manual.

It also launched Security Event Streaming, which sends audit events to monitoring tools including Splunk and Microsoft Sentinel in near real time. Another new feature, Data Classification, allows administrators to set sensitivity labels such as General, Confidential or protected health information, with reporting and audit trails for any changes.

Smartsheet cited IBM research showing that 68% of breached organisations lacked AI governance to manage AI or detect unauthorised use.

Pratima Arora, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Smartsheet, said the company sees a persistent gap between AI adoption and the controls needed around it.

"Most organizations have AI in one place, their data in another and governance as an afterthought. Teams still spend hours on status reports and follow-ups, and IT struggles to see what AI is doing with company data," said Pratima Arora, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Smartsheet.

"Today we're putting AI agents on that routine work, connecting data across the tools teams already use, and adding the security and governance controls that keep every AI action inside the rules you set," Arora said.

Planning product

Alongside the platform updates, Smartsheet also introduced vsActual, an AI-native planning and execution product. The tool is designed to show leaders whether work is tracking against priorities and identify delivery gaps before they become harder to address.

The launch builds on a broader push by Smartsheet to position its software between spreadsheets and more rigid project management systems. The company said teams use its platform to plan programmes, track work across departments, automate routine processes and monitor progress.

Wayne Kurtzman, Research Vice President at IDC, said organisations are increasingly focused on whether AI systems remain aligned with business plans, rather than on productivity gains alone.

"Enterprises are discovering that the hard part of AI is not productivity gains; it is keeping work aligned with their plans," said Wayne Kurtzman, Research Vice President at IDC.

"As agents, systems, integrations and partners multiply, teams need AI to draw on real data, content and context across the tools they already use, under the governance they've already set. Smartsheet is addressing this challenge directly, helping organizations move AI from experimentation to dependable, strategic work," Kurtzman said.