OpenTelemetry GenAI is a set of semantic conventions for tracing generative AI and agent activity in a structured, machine-readable way. It extends observability so security teams can record prompts, model responses, tool calls, policy decisions, errors, and handoffs between agents in a consistent format.
This matters because agentic systems often span multiple services and identities. In attacks, missing or inconsistent traces can hide unauthorized tool use, prompt injection effects, or risky automation. In defenses, standardized spans and events help investigators reconstruct the chain of delegation, correlate actions across systems, and verify which workload identity invoked which tool. By making AI activity easier to search, compare, and audit, OpenTelemetry GenAI supports both incident response and forensic readiness.