Dive Brief:
- As agentic AI offerings evolve, more than 4 in 5 business leaders expect to deploy the tools in response to workforce capacity constraints, according to Microsoft's annual Work Trend Index. The company commissioned Edelman Data & Intelligence to survey 31,000 knowledge workers for the Wednesday report.
- Nearly half of decision-makers say their companies have fully automated workflows or business processes through the use of agents. Customer service, marketing and product development are the top three priorities for AI investments.
- The downstream effect of agentic AI adoption remains unclear. One-third of surveyed leaders are considering headcount trims in response to the shifts, while more than three-quarters say they will expand hiring to fill new AI roles.
Dive Insight:
Agentic AI took over enterprise technology discourse this past year, promising productivity gains and improved customer experiences. Adoption plans are already reshaping enterprise workforce strategies.
Entire roles and industries will be redrawn as businesses plug AI into more parts of their operations, according to Jared Spataro, Microsoft CMO for AI at Work.
“Just as the internet era created billions of new knowledge jobs — from social media managers to UX designers — the AI era is already giving rise to new roles, with many more to come,” Spataro said in a Wednesday blog post. “Preparing for what’s next is no longer optional. Employees must build AI skills and companies must support them with the right tools and training.”
In addition to the report, Microsoft announced a slew of updates in its Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 2 spring release, aimed at improving what it calls “human-agent collaboration.” Updates include the new Researcher and Analyst agents, which use OpenAI's deep reasoning models, and enhanced agent access controls for IT.
Microsoft isn't alone making the case for agentic AI. An ongoing vendor push is underway to plug automation into more workflows, with Salesforce, Google, SAP AWS and others launching agent platforms.
Widespread adoption obstacles remain — despite vendor enthusiasm — including concerns over governance and the current condition of data infrastructure.
Still, more than two-thirds of surveyed employees say AI will help accelerate their careers, even though just 40% say they're familiar with AI agents.
“This moment calls for honest conversations, intentional communication and real investment in reskilling,” said Spataro. “The companies that invest now won’t just keep up — they’ll shape what comes next.”
