As it turns out, what was once considered a futuristic concept has quickly become a business imperative. As a result, artificial intelligence is now being integrated into the core of enterprise operations in increasingly autonomous ways - and it is doing so even though it had previously been confined to experimental pilot programs.
In a survey conducted by global consulting firm Ernst & Young (EY), technology executives predicted that within two years, over half of their AI systems will be able to function autonomously.
There is a significant milestone coming up in the evolution of artificial intelligence with this prediction, signalling a shift away from assistive technologies towards autonomous systems that can make decisions and execute goals independently.
The generative AI field has dominated the innovation spotlight in recent years, captivating leaders with its ability to generate text, images, and insights similar to those of a human. However, a more advanced and less publicised form of artificial intelligence has emerged.
A system of this kind not only responds, but is also capable of acting – either autonomously or semi-autonomously – in pursuit of specific objectives.
Previously, agentic artificial intelligence was considered a fringe concept in the business dialogues of the West, but that changed dramatically in late 2024. The number of global searches for “agent AI” and “AI agents” has skyrocketed in recent months, reflecting a strong interest in the field both within the industry and within the public sphere.
A significant evolution is taking place in the area of intelligent AI beyond traditional chatbots and prompt-based tools.
Taking advantage of advances in large language models (LLMs) and the emergence of large reasoning models (LRMs), these intelligent systems are now capable of making autonomous, adaptive decision-making based on real-time reasoning in a way that moves beyond rule-based execution.
With agentic AI systems, actions are adjusted according to context and goals, rather than following static, predefined instructions as in earlier software or pre-AI agents.
The shift marks a new beginning for AI, in which systems no longer act as tools but as intelligent collaborators capable of navigating complexity in a manner that requires little human intervention.
To capitalise on the emerging wave of autonomous systems, companies are having to rethink how work is completed, who (or what) performs it, as well as how leadership must adapt to use AI as a true collaborator in strategy execution.
In today's technologically advanced world, artificial intelligence systems are becoming more active collaborators than passive tools in the workplace, and this represents a new era in workplace innovation.
By 2027, Salesforce predicts a massive increase in the adoption of Agentic AI by an astounding 327%, which is a significant change for organisations, workforce strategies, and organisational structures. Despite the potential of the technology, the study finds that 85% of organisations have yet to integrate Agentic AI into their operations despite its promising potential. This transition is being driven by Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs), who are taking the lead as strategic leaders in this process.
The company is not only reviewing traditional HR models but also pushing ahead with initiatives focusing on realigning roles, forecasting skills, and promoting agile talent development. As organisations prepare for the deep changes that will be brought about by Agentic AI, human resources leaders must prepare their workforces for jobs that are unlikely to exist yet while managing the evolution of roles that already do exist.
Salesforce's study examines how Agentic AI is transforming the future of work, reshaping employee responsibilities, and driving an increase in the need for reskilling, as well as the key findings. As an HR function, the responsibility of leading this technological shift with foresight, flexibility, and a renewed emphasis on human-centred innovation in the face of an AI-powered environment, and it is expected to lead by example.
Technology giant Ernst & Young (EY) has recently released its Technology Pulse Poll, which shows that an increased sense of urgency and confidence among leading technology companies is shaping AI strategies. According to a survey conducted by over 500 technology executives, more than half of them predicted that artificial intelligence agents would constitute most of their future deployments, as they are autonomous or semi-autonomous systems that are capable of executing tasks with little or no human intervention.
The data shows that there is a rise in self-contained, goal-oriented artificial intelligence solutions becoming integrated into business operations. Moreover, the data indicates that this shift has already begun to occur.
There are about 48% of respondents who are either in the process of adopting or have already fully deployed AI agents across a range of different functions of their organisations.
A significant number of these respondents expect that within the next 24 months, more than 50% of their AI deployments will operate autonomously. This widespread adoption is reflective of a growing belief that agentic AI can be an effective method for facilitating efficiency, agility, and innovation at an unprecedented scale.
According to the survey, there is also a significant increase in investment in AI.
As far as technology leaders are concerned, 92% said they plan to increase spending on AI initiatives, thus demonstrating how important AI is as a strategic priority. Furthermore, over half of these executives are confident that their companies are currently more prepared and ahead of their industry peers when it comes to investing in AI technologies and preparing for their use.
Even though 81% of respondents expressed confidence that AI could help their organisations achieve key business objectives over the next year, the optimism regarding the technology's potential remains strong.
There is an inflexion point that is being marked in these findings. With the advancement of agentic AI from exploration to execution, organisations are not only investing heavily in its development. Still, they are also integrating it into their day-to-day operations to enhance performance.
Agentic AI will likely play an important role in the next wave of digital transformation, as it impacts productivity, decision-making, and competitive differentiation in profound ways.
The more organisations learn about agentic artificial intelligence and the benefits it can provide over generative artificial intelligence, the clearer it becomes to differentiate itself.
It is generally accepted that generational AI has excelled at creating content and summarising it, but agentic AI has set itself apart by proactively identifying problems, analysing anomalies, and giving actionable recommendations to solve those problems.
It is much more powerful than simply listing a summary of how to fix a maintenance issue.
An agentic AI system, for instance, will automatically detect the deviation from its defined range, issue an alert, suggest specific adjustments, and provide practical and contextualised guidance to users during the resolution process. By enabling intelligent, decision-oriented systems in place of passive AI outputs, a significant shift has been made toward intelligent AI outputs.
It should be noted, however, that as enterprises move toward more autonomous operations, they also need to consider the architectural considerations associated with deploying agentic artificial intelligence - specifically, the choice between single-agent and multi-agent frameworks.
When many businesses began implementing their first AI projects, they first adopted single-agent systems, where one AI agent manages a wide range of tasks at the same time.
The single-agent systems, for example, could be used in a manufacturing setting for monitoring the performance of machines, predicting failures, analysing historical maintenance data and suggesting interventions. The fact is that while such systems may be able to handle complex tasks with layered questioning and analysis, they are often limited by their scalability.
When a single agent is overwhelmed by a large amount and variety of data, he or she may be unable to perform as well as they should, or even exhibit hallucinations—false and inaccurate outputs which may compromise operational reliability. As a result, multi-agent systems are gaining popularity. These architectures are defined by assigning agents specific tasks and data sources, allowing them each to specialise in a specific area of data collection.
In particular, a machine efficiency monitoring agent might track system logs, a system log monitoring agent might track historical downtime trends, while another agent might monitor machine efficiency metrics. A coordination agent can be used to direct the efforts of these agents and aggregate their findings into a comprehensive response, which can work independently or in coordination with the orchestration agent.
In addition to enhancing the accuracy of each agent, the modular design ensures that the entire system is still scalable and resilient under complex workloads, allowing for the optimal performance of the system in general. Multi-agent systems are often a natural progression for organisations already utilising AI tools and data infrastructure.
For businesses to extract greater value from their prior investments, existing machine learning models, data streams, and historical records can be aligned with specific agents designed for specific purposes.
Additionally, these agents can work together dynamically, consulting on each other's behalf, utilising predictive models, and responding to evolving situations in real-time.
With this evolving architecture, companies can design AI ecosystems that can handle the increasing complexity of modern digital operations in an adaptive, efficient, and capable manner.
With artificial intelligence agents becoming increasingly integrated into enterprise security operations, Indian organisations are taking steps proactively to address both new opportunities and emerging risks to mitigate them.
It has been reported that 83% of Indian firms have planned to increase security spending in the upcoming year because of data poisoning, a growing concern that involves attackers compromising AI training datasets.
As well as the increase in AI agents used by IT security teams, this number is predicted to increase from 43% today to 76% within two years. These intelligent systems are currently being utilised for various purposes, including detecting threats, auditing AI models, and maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements.
Even though 81% of cybersecurity leaders recognise AI agents as being beneficial for enhancing privacy compliance, 87% also admit that they introduce regulatory challenges as well.
Trust remains a critical barrier, with 48% of leaders not knowing if their organisations are using high-quality data or if the necessary safeguards have been put in place to protect it. There are still significant regulatory uncertainties and gaps in data governance that hinder full-scale adoption of AI, with only 55% of companies confident they can deploy AI responsibly.
A strategic and measured approach is imperative as organisations continue to embrace agentic AI to achieve greater efficiency, innovation, and competitive advantage. While businesses can benefit from the increased efficiency, innovation, and competitive advantage that this technology offers, the importance of establishing robust governance frameworks is also no less crucial than ensuring that AI is deployed ethically and responsibly.
To mitigate challenges like data poisoning and regulatory compliance complexities, companies must invest in comprehensive data quality assurance, transparency mechanisms, and ongoing risk management methods to mitigate challenges such as data poisoning. Achieving cross-functional cooperation between IT, security, and human resources will also be vital for the alignment of AI initiatives with the broader organisational goals as well as the transformation of the workforce.
Leaders must stress the importance of constant workforce upskilling to prepare employees for increasingly autonomous roles. Managing innovation with accountability can ensure businesses can maximise the potential of agentic AI while preserving trust, compliance, and operational resilience as well. This thoughtful approach will not only accelerate AI adoption but it will also enable sustainable value creation in an increasingly artificially driven business environment.
