Dive Brief:
- About one-third of organizations have advanced to full-scale deployment of agentic AI technology, up three-fold after two consecutive quarters at 11%, according to a KPMG study released Thursday.
- Fifty-seven percent of surveyed organizations are piloting agents, down from 65%, and 10% are exploring the possibility of using them, compared to 25% last quarter, the Big Four accounting firm found.
- “The data shows just how quickly AI agents are moving out of pilots and into production — and that momentum will only accelerate,” Steve Chase, KPMG’s vice chair of AI and digital innovation, said in a press release. “What makes this moment unique is that leaders increasingly see agents not just as a way to cut costs, but as a way to rethink growth and create new value.”
Dive Insight:
The still nascent technology continues to pose implementation challenges, KPMG said. The primary obstacles to agent deployment include technical skills gaps, workforce resistance to change and system complexity, according to a report on the findings.
Gartner predicts that more than 40% of agentic AI projects will be canceled by the end of 2027, due to escalating costs, unclear business value or inadequate risk controls.
“Most agentic AI projects right now are early stage experiments or proof of concepts that are mostly driven by hype and are often misapplied,” Anushree Verma, a senior director analyst at Gartner, said in a Wednesday press release. “This can blind organizations to the real cost and complexity of deploying AI agents at scale, stalling projects from moving into production. They need to cut through the hype to make careful, strategic decisions about where and how they apply this emerging technology.”
Many vendors are contributing to the hype by engaging in “agent washing” — the rebranding of existing products, such as AI assistants, robotic process automation and chatbots, “without substantial agentic capabilities,” according to the release.
Microsoft, Salesforce, Oracle, SAP and Workday are among tech giants that began launching agents last year, promising the next stage of enterprise automation.
Big Four accounting firms such as KPMG and Deloitte have quickly jumped on the band wagon as well, offering their own agentic AI solutions for customers.
Among the enterprises now using agentic AI, many are taking a balanced, strategic approach, according to the results of the KPMG survey.
Nearly half of leaders (46%) said they were focused on efficiency and revenue growth as it relates to their AI agent strategies, according to KPMG’s report. Meanwhile, leader concerns about data privacy, regulatory issues and data quality are at their highest in three quarters, the report said.
KPMG polled 130 U.S.-based business leaders representing organizations with an annual revenue of $1 billion or more.
