The hottest word in technology right now is not "AI" — it is "agentic." A new generation of autonomous AI agents can plan, execute, and complete complex multi-step tasks with minimal human oversight.
Traditional AI assistants answer a question and stop. Agentic AI systems go further: given a goal, they break it down into sub-tasks, use tools (browsing the web, writing code, sending emails), evaluate results, adjust their approach, and complete the objective — often without any human in the loop until done.
This year's TV upfronts were dominated by exactly this technology. NBCUniversal's ad sales chief described AI that can take a creative brief and autonomously produce hundreds of tailored ad variations — a process that previously required a team of designers working for weeks.
Law firms are using agentic AI for due diligence reviews. Healthcare companies are deploying agents to pre-authorise insurance claims. Software companies are using coding agents that can fix bugs, write tests, and deploy updates.
We are moving from AI as a tool to AI as a colleague. The productivity implications are extraordinary — and so are the accountability implications.
