These autonomous AI agents can follow instructions and do things from checking a car rental reservation at the airport to screening potential sales leads.
Leaders, that means the ability to tie the technology to a reduction in the number of hours employees work, or even how many new people they need to hire.
Phu Nguyen, the head of digital workplace at Pure Storage, considers AI agents an obvious boost for each of the data storage firm's employees: "Why should executives be the only people that have a ghost writer that writes their emails or does their slides? Imagine, now, all employees have that power?" he said.
Software companies from Salesforce to ServiceNow, Microsoft and Workday last year all announced their own AI agents, which they say can help businesses be even more hands-off in areas like recruiting employees, contacting potential sales leads, creating marketing content and managing their information technology.
If these AI agents work as promised, they could also provide businesses with the return on investment they have been looking for out of generative AI. According to some corporate technology
Still, more AI agents can mean more problems, especially in cybersecurity, according to market research and IT consulting firm Gartner. By 2028, at least 15% of daily business decisions will be made autonomously through agentic AI—up from 0% in 2024, Gartner said. But, also by that time, 25% of enterprise breaches will be tied to AI agent abuse.
Here are five companies that have started integrating AI agents into their products and operations, and what they have learned in the process.
Johnson & Johnson: Drug discovery agents At New Jersey-based Johnson & Johnson, AI agents are being used to help the healthcare giant with the chemical synthesis process in drug discovery.
This story is from the January 08, 2025 edition of Mint New Delhi.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 08, 2025 edition of Mint New Delhi.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The Treasures of Nimrud Pieced Together Again
Archaeologists Have Been Reassembling Bas-Reliefs, Sculptures and Decorated Slabs
How Bhansali elevates the first encounter
An excerpt from a new book on the Hindi director considers the importance of first sightings in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's cinema
From arrack to wine, a bar crawl across Sri Lanka
Cocktail bars in the island nation are drawing on local traditions and flavours to give a heady twist to familiar spirits
Only human-centred AI can charm humans to adopt it
The AI industry could learn from carmakers how to focus on the consumer and modify perceptions
How Emerging Economies Could Prosper in a Protectionist World
As manufacturing export success gets harder, they should focus on service exports. These are unlikely to face big trade barriers
The Asian Dream Is Waking Up To Realities Of Middle-Class Life
Asians are realizing that staying middle-class is not guaranteed
Fix India's bond market to lift economic growth
As India's economy slows, we should revive public-private partnerships to attract private investment. But, for debt funding, we'll need to reform and invigorate our market for bonds
Lessons from the 75-year-old National Sample Survey
Its impressive history tells us much about innovation, autonomy and state-level data collection
We should let clarity prevail over nonsense: Here's a handy guide
We must use simple language, empathize with people, not take ourselves too seriously and be kind
Clear Goals and Discipline: How Small Investors Can Build Lasting Wealth
There is no one-size-fits-all, the answer will depend on your needs, personal preferences
