The excitement around agentic AI is palpable, with vendors promising autonomous systems that can handle complex tasks without human intervention. While these AI agents are a significant step up from the first wave of generative AI, they are not a panacea for productivity woes. The real value of AI will not be unlocked by simply deploying these agents, but through the careful, and often challenging work of redesigning business processes and implementing AI orchestration.
Think of an AI agent as a highly skilled but newly hired employee. On their own, they may be able to perform specific tasks, but without clear instructions, established workflows, and coordination with the rest of the team, their impact will be limited. This is where AI orchestration comes in. It is the framework that integrates these agents into the broader business environment, connecting them with existing systems, data, and human workflows to achieve specific, measurable outcomes.
Many organisations are discovering that to truly leverage AI, they must first undertake the ‘gritty work’ of understanding and redesigning their existing processes. This is often a more significant challenge than the technical implementation of AI itself. However, it is this foundational work that will separate the organisations that derive real value from AI from those that are simply chasing the hype.
The market is already starting to reflect this reality, with major vendors like Adobe, Workday, Google, and Microsoft all shifting their focus from standalone agents to AI orchestration platforms. This trend underscores the growing understanding that the future of AI in the enterprise is not just about intelligent agents, but about the intelligent orchestration of those agents within well-designed business processes.
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