Central announces CTRL: The AI Agent Runtime for Mission-Critical Products

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Central today announced details about CTRL, its AI agent runtime that powers Central's AI Agent for mission-critical back-office operations. Unlike AI tools that only answer questions or provide summaries, CTRL enables users to execute complex actions. A user can say "Give everyone in the support department a $2,500 bonus" or "Create an off-cycle payrun for next Friday and pay Sarah a $1k commission and John a $500 commission," and CTRL plans the workflow, executes deterministic actions, and keeps humans in control of critical decisions.

Adaptive Planning and Execution

"Most AI tools stop at answering questions," said Josh Wymer, CEO at Central. "CTRL was built from the ground up to take action on mission-critical workflows where reliability, auditability, and human judgment aren't optional. Think of it as Cursor for back-office work: just as Cursor helps developers write code with AI, CTRL helps teams execute back-office operations with AI."

At the heart of CTRL is a proprietary adaptive planning and execution framework that translates natural language into deterministic, multi-step workflows. When a user requests "I need to take PTO for Jan 6 and Jan 10-12," CTRL dynamically constructs the complete workflow graph, determining which systems to interact with, what data to retrieve, and what actions to take across platforms. Each step executes predictably and reproducibly, ensuring consistent outcomes every time.

Human-in-the-Loop by Design

CTRL eliminates the false choice between passive AI agents and risky full automation through its hybrid approach. When agents construct and propose workflows (whether processing bonuses, updating employee records, or submitting regulatory filings), CTRL surfaces intuitive confirmation interfaces that let operators approve, modify, or reject each step in real time. This allows organizations to capture real productivity gains without sacrificing oversight.

Cross-Platform Support via Agent-to-UI

CTRL implements A2UI, Google's standard protocol for AI agent user interfaces, to deliver rich, interactive workflows wherever users work like in Slack, on the web, or other platforms. Users can execute the same complex workflows and receive the same intuitive approval interfaces regardless of where they interact with the AI Agent, ensuring consistent control and visibility across their entire team.

Built for Security, Auditability, and Compliance

CTRL was designed with the security and governance requirements of regulated industries in mind. The platform provides complete audit trails (every action is immutably logged), role-based access control, reproducible workflows for debugging and validation, and compliance-ready architecture. CTRL's deterministic execution ensures that workflows produce consistent, verifiable results.

"Enterprise back-office operations demand a level of control and accountability that traditional AI tools simply can't provide," said Josh Wymer, CEO at Central. "CTRL was built to meet that standard. Every action is auditable, every workflow requires human approval, and the entire system is designed for the governance requirements of regulated industries. This allows us to deploy our AI agent with confidence in our most critical operations."

Availability

A new CTRL-powered web AI Agent is now available for early access customers. The CTRL runtime has been in production within the Central bot for Slack for over two years, where it has proven its reliability across hundreds of companies processing real back-office operations.

About Central

Central is building the AI-native back-office platform. The company's CTRL runtime powers Central's AI Agent, enabling businesses to automate payroll, benefits, compliance, accounting, taxes, and more through natural language. Central's platform serves over 400 customers and is backed by First Round Capital and Y Combinator.

SOURCE Central