New Relic unveils agentic AI platform for SRE automation

New Relic has unveiled an Agentic Platform with a no-code builder and a new SRE Agent, part of a broader set of updates focused on using AI for incident response and operational automation.

The Agentic Platform targets organisations that want to build, deploy, and manage AI agents and multi-step workflows within an observability environment. New Relic describes the release as a move from monitoring issues to executing tasks during investigation and remediation.

Brian Emerson, New Relic's chief product officer, said the market is constrained by specialist skills and limited confidence in large-scale deployments.

"As software complexity outpaces human ability to manage it, businesses recognise agentic AI is the solution but run into a talent and trust wall during complex implementations," Emerson said.

The Agentic Platform is intended to support use cases ranging from single-task automation to complex workflows. It includes a visual builder for site reliability engineering and operations teams, plus governance features such as role-based access control and audit logs.

No-code agents

New Relic positions the release as a response to the limits of rule-based automation in modern application environments. It cited internal claims that engineers spend 33% of their time on reactive work, and referenced a Gartner forecast that 40% of enterprise applications will feature AI agents by 2026.

The Agentic Platform includes pre-built agents and tools to create custom agents without writing code. It also provides a central orchestration layer for managing agents at scale, along with a "dynamic runtime" designed to handle multi-step logic and new scenarios.

The platform supports the Model Context Protocol, which New Relic describes as a mechanism for secure tool access, and integrates with New Relic Workflow Automation. A built-in evaluation engine tests agent performance on an ongoing basis.

Stephen Elliot, group vice president at IDC, said adoption will depend on governance and controls in production environments.

"Agentic AI is now a boardroom conversation as executives face relentless pressure to decrease manual toil and accelerate growth. For developers, SREs and DevOps teams, the opportunity for agentic automation is clear: it's about moving from reactive monitoring to autonomous resolution," Elliot said. "The real winners will be enterprises that deploy these agents within a robust governance framework. Those who can ensure agents make accurate, compliant decisions at scale will revolutionise their observability strategies and unlock a new level of operational efficiency."

New Relic has made the Agentic Platform available in preview as part of its Intelligent Observability Platform.

SRE Agent

Alongside the Agentic Platform, New Relic introduced an SRE Agent focused on incident lifecycle work. The agent combines deterministic analytical methods with AIOps functions, including root cause analysis, issue triage, incident lifecycle management, and change management.

Emerson said the volume of system changes and telemetry data is rising.

"AI is pushing software development beyond human scale, creating a surge of system changes and telemetry volume that IT teams can no longer manage on their own," Emerson said. "Observability must evolve from simply surfacing data to analysing it and helping humans take action with less toil. With the new SRE Agent that draws on our powerful AI-strengthened observability capabilities, we're providing engineers with agentic teammates grounded in live data to resolve incidents faster and with fewer mistakes. The enterprises that win in this era will be those that use AI to cut through noise and optimise business uptime."

New Relic cited its 2026 AI Impact Report, which it said found users of its AI features resolved incidents 25% faster than those that did not. It describes the SRE Agent as an "always on" teammate that can diagnose incidents and recommend next steps before an engineer responds to an alert.

The SRE Agent works through Slack and Zoom integrations, allowing responders to query New Relic during triage sessions while the agent captures context. It also provides a unified view of an incident timeline and supports post-incident reporting.

AIOps updates

New capabilities that feed the SRE Agent include Intelligent RCA, which New Relic said searches a topology graph and applies probabilistic and ranking techniques to narrow potential causes. The update also includes Workflow Automation, which New Relic said lets teams build multi-step operational workflows with conditional logic, approvals, and third-party integrations. Workflow Automation is generally available, according to the company.

Additional AIOps features include a Performance Risks Inbox, described as a way to identify patterns that suggest an incident may be imminent, and Smart Alerts, which use anomaly detection and dynamic baselines to reduce alert noise.

Archana Venkatraman, senior research director for cloud operations and governance research at IDC Europe, said incident response needs more than alerting.

"Alerts are no longer enough for SRE teams to prevent costly downtime," Venkatraman said. "Enterprises need AI solutions that can actually help automate remediation, allowing engineers to eliminate manual toil, resolve incidents faster, and scale operations to match today's dynamic demands. Governance is also key for organisations to trust these AI agents in production environments. Observability is a strategic imperative to meet all these needs."

New Relic said the SRE Agent and related innovations are available in preview within its Intelligent Observability Platform. It also highlighted separate work to link technical performance to business outcomes and expand OpenTelemetry support through embedded API compatibility and instrumentation.