AWS Step Functions now integrates with Amazon Bedrock AgentCore (currently in preview) to allow AI agent reasoning steps — such as document classification and data extraction — to be embedded directly into automated workflows. This enables multiple agents to run in parallel or sequence within a single workflow, with human approval gates and full audit trails via CloudWatch. For security teams, this introduces AI-driven decision-making into business-critical automation pipelines, expanding the attack surface and governance considerations.

Architect’s Take: Review IAM permissions granted to Step Functions execution roles that invoke AgentCore harnesses, ensuring least-privilege access and that per-invocation model/prompt overrides cannot be manipulated by untrusted inputs. Establish logging and alerting on CloudWatch agent turn details from day one, and apply human approval steps before any agent action with write or destructive permissions.

Original advisory: AWS Step Functions adds AgentCore-powered agentic reasoning step