What Should Enterprises Build with Agentic AI?
The rise of agentic AI has dominated recent discussions in enterprise technology, sparking debates over its transformative potential and practical applications. Just weeks ago, few had heard of the term. Now, every tech vendor is racing to stake their claim in this emerging space, positioning agentic AI as the successor to AI co-pilots. While co-pilots assist users with tasks, agentic AI represents the next step: delegating tasks to intelligent agents capable of independent execution, akin to assigning work to a junior colleague. But beyond the buzz, the pressing questions remain: Cutting Through the Hype Recent launches provide a snapshot of how enterprises are beginning to deploy agentic AI. Salesforce’s Agentforce, Asana’s AI Studio, and Atlassian’s Rovo AI Assistant all emphasize the ability of these agents to streamline workflows by interpreting unstructured data and automating complex tasks. These tools promise flexibility over previous rigid, rule-based systems. For example, instead of painstakingly scripting every step, users can instruct an agent to “follow documented policies, analyze data, and propose actions,” reserving human approval for final execution. However, the performance of these agents hinges on data quality and system robustness. Salesforce’s Marc Benioff, for instance, critiques Microsoft’s Copilot for lacking a robust data model, emphasizing Salesforce’s own structured approach as a competitive edge. Similarly, Asana and Atlassian highlight the structured work graphs underpinning their platforms as critical for accurate and reliable outputs. Key Challenges Despite the promise, there are significant challenges to deploying agentic AI effectively: Early Wins and Future Potential Early adopters are seeing value in high-volume, repetitive scenarios such as customer service. For example: However, these successes represent low-hanging fruit. The true promise lies in rethinking how enterprises work. As one panelist at Atlassian’s event noted: “We shouldn’t just use this AI to enhance existing processes. We should ask whether these are the processes we want for the future.” The Path Forward The transformative potential of agentic AI will depend on broader process standardization. Just as standardized shipping containers revolutionized logistics, and virtual containers transformed IT operations, similar breakthroughs in process design could unlock exponential gains for AI-driven workflows. For now, enterprises should: Conclusion Agentic AI holds immense potential, but its real power lies in enabling enterprises to question and redesign how work gets done. While it may still be in its early days, businesses that align their AI investments with strategic goals—and not just immediate fixes—will be best positioned to thrive in this new era of intelligent automation. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more