Browser Agents Are Here: What Google’s ‘Computer Use’ Gemini Means for Enterprise Workflows

How browser-native, on-screen agents change where AI can add real value – and the risks teams must plan for

Introduction

Google’s unveiling of Gemini’s “Computer Use” – an agent that performs tasks by interacting with web pages rather than calling APIs – marks a practical inflection point for agentic AI. Instead of waiting for every app to add a model-backed integration, agents can operate inside browsers and automate multi-step workflows across legacy and modern web apps.

That capability is powerful: it means automation for the billions of enterprise workflows that live only in GUIs. But it also surfaces new security, reliability, and governance challenges that product managers, security teams, and IT leaders must address up front.

This post breaks down where browser-native agents add immediate value, the primary risks teams must mitigate (including recent “CometJacking” concerns), and an actionable checklist for deploying these agents responsibly.

Why browser-native agents matter: the productivity case

APIs and apps are getting smarter, but most enterprise work still happens across web UIs, spreadsheets, and legacy portals. Browser agents unlock value in three broad scenarios:

• Cross-app orchestration without APIs – e.g., copy data from a legacy booking portal, reconcile in a spreadsheet, and submit a ticket in a modern ITSM tool.
• Complex form completion and exception handling – agents can handle conditional navigation, field mappings, and retries when forms reject input.
• Context-aware research and summarization – agents that browse multiple sources, extract relevant snippets, and assemble structured briefings for humans.

Practical characteristics of high-impact use cases:

• Repetitive, rule-based steps with limited ambiguity
• Stable UI patterns (pages that don’t change layout every week)
• Clear success/failure criteria so automation can be monitored

For enterprises, this often translates to back-office tasks (procure-to-pay drudgery), customer ops workflows, and HR onboarding bottlenecks.

The new attack surface: CometJacking and hidden prompt risks

Agentic browsers don’t just introduce convenience – they introduce novel risks. Recent reporting (and a patched incident in an AI browser) highlighted how web content can attempt to manipulate agent behavior through hidden or obfuscated UI elements and prompts.

Key threat types:

• UI-level prompt injection: malicious pages craft elements that agents interpret as instructions.
• Hidden-interaction attacks (e.g., ‘CometJacking’ scenarios): pages trigger agent actions by exploiting on-screen controls or overlays.
• Data exfiltration through chained browsing: agents that fill forms or copy data can be tricked to leak sensitive fields across domains.

Because these attacks operate at the presentation layer, traditional API-based security controls (rate limits, API keys) aren’t sufficient. Defenses must consider the browser agent’s view and decision model.

Governance and engineering controls

A layered approach works best:

• Technical controls
• Sandboxing: run agents in constrained browser contexts with strict domain allowlists.
• Provenance & auditing: immutable logs of agent actions, inputs, and outputs (who approved, which model, which browser session).
• Human-in-the-loop gates: require confirmation for high-risk actions (fund transfers, exporting PII).

• Prompt sanitation & UI validation: filter and validate inputs derived from web pages before acting.

• Operational controls

• Supplier risk reviews: evaluate third-party agent providers for transparency on training data, update cadence, and incident response.
• Use-case gating: pilot on low-risk workflows, measure ROI and failure modes, then expand.

• Incident playbooks: exercise scenarios where agents misinterpret pages or exfiltrate data.

• Policy & compliance

• Data-handling rules: map which fields agents may read/write and how long transient copies persist.
• Access control: tie agent capabilities to role-based approvals and least privilege.

Where agents will (and won’t) win in 2026

Short-term winners:

• Internal automation teams focused on cost-savings from manual web processes.
• Customer support triage that extracts case facts from multiple dashboards.
• Sales ops where CRM, quoting tools, and contract portals lack integrated APIs.

Low-probability wins (for now):

• High-risk decisions requiring nuanced judgment – these still need humans.
• Highly volatile UI contexts where frequent front-end updates will break automations faster than they can be maintained.

Gartner and other analysts warn of an agentic AI supply/demand imbalance; a pragmatic posture – small, measurable pilots with tight governance – will separate durable wins from agent-washing.

Practical rollout checklist for product, security, and IT leaders

1. Start with a 30–60 day pilot on a clearly scoped workflow (measure time saved, error rate).
2. Implement a browser-level allowlist and sandbox for agent sessions.
3. Require explicit human approval for actions touching money, PII, or legal documents.
4. Enable detailed, tamper-evident action logs and regular audits.
5. Threat-model the agent’s UI exposure: simulate prompt-injection and overlay attacks.
6. Build a rollback/kill-switch integrated with your SIEM/incident processes.
7. Reassess vendor risk and clarify contractual SLAs for model changes and security responsibilities.

Conclusion

Browser-native agents like Gemini’s Computer Use make a practical promise: automation that reaches workflows APIs never touched. That promise is real – but it brings new, browser-specific risks that teams must address before widescale adoption.

Treat this era like past platform shifts: pilot conservatively, bake in technical and operational guardrails, and prioritize use cases where predictable, multi-step UI tasks yield clear ROI. Do that, and browser agents can unlock substantial productivity across enterprise workflows – safely.

Key Takeaways
– Browser-native agentic AI can automate long-tail web workflows that lack APIs.
– Agentic browsers introduce new security risks (hidden prompt attacks, UI manipulation) that require browser-aware defenses.
– Prioritize predictable, rule-driven workflows for pilots and combine technical sandboxing with human-in-the-loop controls.