Business Continuity in Agentic AI: Escrow Is a Control Problem
Most customers negotiating AI continuity rights begin by asking for model-weight escrow. That is understandable. Weights are the closest analogue to source code, and source code escrow has been negotiated for decades. In a well-drafted software escrow arrangement, the customer typically receives the released code under a limited, time-bound license that permits support, maintenance, bug fixes, and workarounds, but not the development of a competing product.
But model-weight escrow assumes that continuity depends primarily on controlling access to the model itself. In modern agentic systems, that assumption is often wrong. The continuity challenge in AI systems is rarely just a model problem. It is a control problem.
The framework below is written from the licensor’s perspective. It seeks to preserve the value of the technology while still providing customers with the continuity they are seeking: a service that keeps running long enough to finish the contract term or transition to another solution.