Your Agent Didn't Fail. Your Harness Did. — Vinoth Govindarajan, OpenAI

Vinoth Govindarajan's talk addresses critical 'harness failures' in AI agents, arguing these, rather than model errors, are the root cause of most production incidents. He introduces the core contract: 'A model proposes, the harness commits, and a receipt proves it,' and outlines five key boundaries (state ownership, ordering, deadlines, authority, user-visible proof) that lead to failures like silent success and incomplete reality. The talk culminates in a practical 'run receipt audit' with five questions to diagnose and ensure reliable agent behavior.