How closely an agent's actual behavior matches what it was intended to do.
The word has two uses. In AI safety it means aligning a model with human values. In business, it means something narrower and more practical: is the agent doing the specific job your business gave it, following your policies, and producing the outcomes you deployed it for. An agent can be perfectly safe and still be misaligned with your business, quoting the wrong price or skipping a required step.
Alignment is not permanent. Model updates, prompt changes, and new policies pull an agent away from it over time. That slow slide has a name: drift.
Related: AI Agent Drift, Business Alignment & Outcome Optimizer, Agent Outcome Optimization
See also: What Is AI Agent Drift? and What Is a Business Alignment & Outcome Optimizer?