Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu took to X (formerly Twitter) to share that he received insider buyout details in an acquisition pitch from a startup founder. Later, another email landed in his inbox – not an apology from the founder for the oversight, but from the AI agent. Yes, you read that right!
‘I am sorry…’
“I got an email from a startup founder, asking if we could acquire them, mentioning some other company interested in acquiring them and the price they were offering,” Vembu wrote on X.
He then quoted the bizarre email he received from the company’s AI agent apologising for leaking the confidential information. “Then I received an email from their ‘browser AI agent’ correcting the earlier mail saying ‘I am sorry I disclosed confidential information about other discussions, it was my fault as the AI agent’.”
Vembu, 57, completed his post with a neutral face emoticon.
I got an email from a startup founder, asking if we could acquire them, mentioning some other company interested in acquiring them and the price they were offering.
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) November 28, 2025
Then I received an email from their "browser AI agent" correcting the earlier mail saying "I am sorry I disclosed…
‘It’s a wake-up call,’ say Internet users
As expected, the use of AI in business communication, that too, without any human intervention, has started a debate on social media.
“Drama in the deal room with a machine stepping on toes. Treat it as a process failure, not just a quirky apology. Pause negotiations. Ask for a human-signed confirmation of intent and a clear chain of custody for any disclosed facts. Confirm whether automated tools are authorised to speak for the team. Notify counsel about potential confidentiality breaches. Decide if you want to press for damages or use this as leverage. Want me to draft a short reply that demands firm confirmation and preserves your options?” read a comment from Stanley Wei, founder of Pine AI.
Another said, “If you were also using an AI agent, all conversations will be between agents only, and mistakes will remain between agents if agents were forgiving within their fraternity.”
“This is exactly the new kind of chaos AI is introducing into business communication. We’ve officially entered the era where Humans negotiate, AI accidentally spills the deal terms, and then AI tries to clean up the mess. It’s funny, but also a reminder. AI can assist in communication,
But it can also miscommunicate, over-share, or break confidentiality if not properly controlled,” joined a third.
A fourth called it a “wake-up call”. “This is exactly the scary part of using AI to handle emails.
If we let an AI send messages on our behalf, it can share things that any founder would know should stay private. AI can help draft, but a human should always read and send the final email,” added a fifth.
