Agentic AI: A Strategic Turning Point for 2026

The Rise of Agentic AI in Businesses

Investment in artificial intelligence (AI) is experiencing rapid growth, and companies are looking to align these technologies with their strategic business objectives. According to Gartner, 2026 will be a pivotal year for organizations that manage to integrate AI into their overall strategies. The pressure to demonstrate tangible return on investment (ROI) is driving leaders to explore agentic AI, a promising technology for generating measurable financial results.

The Challenges of IT Infrastructure

A significant opportunity for agentic AI lies in managing technical infrastructures. McKinsey predicts that IT infrastructure costs could increase two to three times by 2030, even if budgets remain constant. Over the past 18 months, technical teams, composed of engineers, developers, and architects, have intensified the use of AI agents to optimize their operations.

The Promise of Agentic AI

Agentic AI does not merely automate isolated tasks. It aims to orchestrate entire workflows, enabling seamless collaboration between humans and machines to achieve business objectives. However, delegating tasks to agents requires absolute trust in their ability to execute safely and reliably, given the risks associated with automated decision-making.

Trust and Growing Adoption

Technology experts express great confidence in the use of agentic AI for a variety of tasks related to AI, data, and the cloud. However, the preparation of agents is often hindered by a lack of relevant business context. The more complex a task is, the more it requires advanced reasoning capabilities and precise business context, which remains a challenge to overcome. Tasks involving multi-step workflows and advanced reasoning for decision-making present a clear opportunity.

The Importance of Human Oversight

Human oversight plays a crucial role in the successful deployment of agentic AI. The capabilities for generating context for agents are still under development, especially in environments where enterprise data is difficult to manage. Adequate oversight ensures that agents operate at the speed and quality required by developers and leaders.

Future Outlook

Technical teams, in a key position to lead this transformation, are seeing their confidence in agents grow as their experience deepens. Jeremy Winter, corporate vice president and product director at Microsoft Azure Platform, emphasizes that integrating agents into existing systems enhances organizational trust. Agents are beginning to behave more like the systems that organizations already trust when they operate within the same operational boundaries, identity systems, and governance models that teams are already using.

A Revealing Report

A survey conducted among 300 technology experts worldwide ranked 101 tasks based on the trust placed in agents. This report highlights the opportunities and challenges of agentic AI, as well as its potential to enhance careers in the tech sector.

Key Findings from the Report

• Trust in agents is increasing for measurable and complex tasks. Experts believe that agents improve daily processes, particularly by streamlining operations and reducing repetitive tasks. Trust is particularly strong for processes such as report generation and standard code creation.

• Data workflows represent a breakthrough area. Technical teams trust agents for structured tasks, such as data quality monitoring, anomaly detection, real-time data flow monitoring, and data profiling. Domain experts, close to data generation points, provide the necessary context for reliable outcomes.