Editorial
The Gist
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AI’s transformative potential. Agentic AI enhances efficiency by automating multi-step processes and reducing manual labor.
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Trust and reliability. Building trust in agentic AI involves transparency, proper oversight and training to deliver reliable and accurate outputs for decision-making and marketing.
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AI and human collaboration. The key to success with agentic AI is building a collaborative environment between human teams and AI agents.
AI agents are likely already on your radar, whether you are in the process of actively implementing them or not. Whether you’ve formally rolled them out or not, they’re likely already part of your organization in one way or another.
In fact, Pegasystems and YouGov recently surveyed 2,100 U.S. and UK working adults that use digital devices for their jobs, and 58% of employees said they are already using AI agents in some capacity in their work.
AI agents (also known as agentic AI), includes software tools that are designed to assist with anything from automating routine processes to crunching vast amounts of data quickly. In many cases, it provides actionable insights or recommendations as a result of those processes.
This means that AI agents aren’t just something on the horizon or in a 2025 planning PowerPoint. They’re already in use in your organization, and they’re quickly becoming a cohort of dependable coworkers that don’t miss deadlines, don’t get distracted and are quite remarkable at multitasking.
It’s time to get ahead of this adoption. Let’s explore what you need to know about AI agents, including the opportunities, challenges and key considerations for the months ahead.
Table of Contents
- Maximizing Agentic AI's Strengths
- Building Trust in Agentic AI
- Creating a Collaborative AI-Human Workplace
- Establishing Best Practices for Agentic AI
- Core Questions Around Agentic AI
Maximizing Agentic AI's Strengths
Anyone who has played with Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini has seen how generative AI tools can make short work of some complex prompts. Agentic AI builds on this by connecting multiple tools together, and it has the ability to perform multi-step actions that otherwise would take up precious hours of time with mind-numbing work. According to the Pegasystems survey, 41% of workers cited the ability to automate tedious and repetitive tasks as the primary benefit of these tools.
As a leader, play to AI agents’ strength by finding ways to reduce manual labor in tasks like data entry, campaign monitoring and meeting transcription, which will allow teams to focus on strategy and creativity. While some of these tasks are already supported by AI, agentic AI takes it further by handling multiple steps with little to no human intervention. This not only saves time and effort, but it also creates more opportunities for focused work by reducing the need for constant human oversight between steps in a process.
Additionally, there is a big potential difference between knowing about something in real time and letting key actions happen as a chain of consequences in real time. For instance, with the first iteration of generative AI tools, it has been possible to crunch large amounts of data to gain insights.
But what is to be done with those insights? In an agentic world, insights gathered in real time can automatically be translated into actions that benefit customers and the business. This meets customers’ desire for quicker responses, and it allows companies to capture customer attention while it’s already focused, not hours or days later.
What's Your AI Governance Strategy?
Any discussion of these AI tools, however, should include a few caveats. First, there needs to be some type of oversight on any AI implementation. Multi-step agentic interactions have the potential to compound a potential issue if left unchecked. Leaders need to consider and implement actions that allow oversight without negating the benefits.
Building on the existing use of generative AI tools, the promise of agentic AI is that it frees up more time for teams to focus on strategic and creative aspects of their work, while also enabling them to take meaningful actions based on real-time insights.
Related Article: The Rise and Impact of Agentic AI: Transforming the Human Experience
Building Trust in Agentic AI
Along with the many potential benefits that agentic AI offers, there are several areas of concern, especially considering that many tools are already in active use. Some of the concerns raised by workers in the Pegasystems survey include the lack of human intuition (47%) and distrust in the quality of AI outputs (33%). Additionally, 40% of workers are uncomfortable submitting AI-generated work, which reflects the ongoing skepticism about the efficacy of these tools’ output. It also reflects a lack of understanding of company policies and recommended practices.
Trustworthy AI is critical for making sure marketing campaigns and decisions are based on accurate and reliable outputs. With the many potential benefits that agentic AI can bring to an organization, it needs to be set up in a way that builds trust from the start.
Transparency in approaches, along with the ability to understand how AI agents arrive at their outcomes, allows employees to see successful results and contribute to improving those that need adjustment.
This should be combined with plenty of training and showcasing examples of how agentic AI can help. While many of your employees may be early adopters, that still leaves many others that have yet to make the leap. Incorporate education and practical case studies in your routine, alongside ongoing governance efforts to reassure skeptics that safeguards will be implemented.
Creating a Collaborative AI-Human Workplace
AI agents are already here and playing a key role in teams. We’re not going backward, so the best approach is to proactively develop approaches that encourage a collaborative working relationship between human and AI team members. While there will be detractors, there will also be plenty of support for greater implementation of AI tools, with 46% of workers saying that AI will positively impact their jobs over the next five years. This showcases a degree of optimism for collaboration between humans and AI agents.
While there remain concerns about the effect of AI tools on current and future employment, a constructive collaboration between humans and AI agents can create a balanced ecosystem where technology enhances human capabilities rather than replacing human employees.
The best approach for leaders is to move forward with the mindset that collaboration brings the best out in both human and AI team members. Delaying the development of strategies for making this partnership successful simply delays the inevitable, and it benefits neither the employees nor the company.
That said, a rush to deployment of AI agents without proper human oversight could lead to generic, less impactful outputs, whether that comes out in campaigns, content or insights. A careful, considered approach is needed, but it should also maintain steady progress.
Rushing or delaying each has the potential to impact a company’s ability to compete, and they may both widen the AI capabilities gap between leaders and laggards in any given industry. Instead, a well-designed partnership between humans and AI can drive innovation and set the stage for success.
Related Article: Human-Centered AI: Building Empathy and Creativity in Machine-Driven Era
Establishing Best Practices for Agentic AI
With a majority of workers already using AI agents, it’s now time to establish best practices to address trust and reliability challenges and define focused, strategic applications of the technology. When used thoughtfully, AI agents can be a powerful tool for growth and innovation, in marketing, customer experience and beyond. Leaders must take responsibility for clarifying the path forward.
Core Questions Around Agentic AI
Editor's note: Here are two important questions to ask about AI agents.
What are the key benefits of AI agents in organizations?
AI agents help organizations by automating repetitive tasks, saving time and increasing productivity. They can also turn real-time data insights into actionable steps, improve efficiency and customer service, and enable teams to focus on strategic and creative tasks.
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How can organizations build trust in agentic AI?
Organizations can build trust in agentic AI by maintaining transparency in its processes and outcomes, providing adequate training and showcasing real-world examples of how AI agents improve work efficiency. Ongoing education and governance practices also help address skepticism and facilitate proper implementation.
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