Orchestrating agentic AI for intelligent business operations

Organizations are turning to agentic AI in business operations to capture a competitive edge.

With agentic AI, operations autonomously learn, adapt, and optimize in real time. It isn't just about being faster and more efficient. It’s about intelligent agents that proactively anticipate challenges, personalize experiences, and drive innovation. It’s a shift from automating tasks to orchestrating ever-adapting processes. 

But successful deployment of agents is more than deployment of technology. It depends on creating synergy between people and AI across virtually every operational transaction and communication. Human oversight and connections, decision-making, and most critical, creativity, are more important than ever in this next generation of intelligent operations.

New research from the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBM IBV) highlights the dramatic evolution underway. We surveyed 750 cross-industry operations executives across six countries. More than 80% cite automating global business services as a major strategic imperative. And they expect AI agents to get them there. 86% say that by 2027, process automation and workflow reinvention will be more effective because of AI agents.

86% of executives say that by 2027, AI agents will make process automation and workflow reinvention more effective.

In this research brief, we review three elements of autonomous automation.

Embracing a new workplace paradigm. With agentic AI, tech runs operations and talent runs tech. More than half of executives say that employees, suppliers, and customers already interact with AI assistants as their primary point of contact for transactions. It’s only the beginning. AI agents are entering the workplace in quantity. 76% of executives say their organizations are developing, executing, or scaling proof-of-concepts that enable autonomous automation of intelligent workflows through self-sufficient AI agents. This transformation ultimately elevates the workforce. 90% of executives say that by 2027, AI agents will enable business operations professionals to move beyond simple reporting to perform insightful analytics for real-time optimization.
 

Empowering employees, enhancing agility with AI agents
Percent of executives agreeing with the statement for the end of 2026

Optimizing outcomes. AI agents are less about rules and more about results, similar to a self-driving car. Just as the vehicle ingests a destination and navigates through environmental interpretations and decision-making via sensors and algorithms, AI agents perceive their surroundings, set objectives, and dynamically modify actions to meet these goals. Most organizations are exploring or piloting agentic AI today, but executives have high expectations for the future. For example, 75% of executives say AI agents will execute transactional processes and workflows autonomously in the next two years.

Fast-tracking value. Scaling autonomous operations is a strategic overhaul demanding significant muscle. As technology becomes more pervasive, 81% of executives agree their ability to differentiate will depend on having the right expertise in the right positions with the right incentives. But ongoing AI skills gaps make do-it-yourself AI solutions daunting. Plus they require major investments in infrastructure, maintenance, and time. Even prebuilt AI solutions require orchestration of diverse data sources and systems. Organizations are planning to increase spending in managed services and are seriously considering business process outsourcing across functional areas.

Download the report to explore the agentic AI aspirations of business operations executives, including a deeper look at customer service, finance, human resources, order to cash, and procurement. A concluding action guide outlines specific steps you can take today to capture the advantages of agentic process automation.