Agentic AI is expected to generate up to US$450 billion in economic value by 2028.
However, despite growing interest, only 2% of organisations have fully scaled deployment, and trust in AI agents is declining.
Many are finding that AI agents have the most impact when human involvement remains central.
According to a new report by the Capgemini Research Institute, titled “Rise of agentic AI: How trust is the key to human AI collaboration”, almost three quarters of executives believe the benefits of human oversight outweigh the associated costs, while 90% say human involvement in AI-driven workflows is either positive or cost-neutral.
The report highlights trust and oversight as key to unlocking the potential of agentic AI, noting that the gap between strategic ambition and operational readiness has become a major barrier to realising the projected US$450 billion opportunity.
Although agentic AI is one of the fastest developing technologies, most organisations are still at early stages of adoption.
While nearly a quarter have initiated pilot projects and 14% have started implementation, the majority remain in the planning phase.
This cautious progress contrasts with the high level of ambition among leadership: 93% of business leaders believe scaling AI agents within the next 12 months will offer a competitive advantage, yet nearly half of organisations still lack a clear strategy for doing so.
“The economic potential of AI agents is significant but realising this value depends on more than just the technology, it requires a comprehensive and strategic transformation across people, processes and systems,”
said Franck Greverie, Chief Portfolio and Technology Officer, Head of Global Business Lines, and Group Executive Board Member at Capgemini.
“To succeed, organisations must remain focused on outcomes, reimagining their processes with an AI-first mindset. Central to this transformation is the need to build trust in AI by ensuring it is developed responsibly, with ethics and safety baked in from the outset. It also means reshaping organisations to support effective human-AI chemistry, creating the right conditions for these systems to enhance human judgement and help deliver superior business outcomes.”
According to the report, trust in fully autonomous AI agents has fallen from 43% to 27% over the past year, with around two in five executives expressing concern that the risks outweigh the benefits.
Just 40% of organisations say they trust AI agents to carry out tasks independently.
However, trust appears to increase with experience: among organisations in the implementation phase, 47% report above-average trust in AI agents, compared to 37% in the exploratory phase.
As a result, organisations are placing greater emphasis on transparency, decision-making clarity, and ethical safeguards.
The report finds that agentic AI’s value lies in addressing core business problems and reshaping how work is done.
Within a year, over 60% of organisations expect to establish human-agent teams where AI agents function as subordinates or augment human roles.
In this context, agents are moving beyond the role of tools and are becoming active participants within teams.
Around 70% of organisations anticipate that the integration of AI agents will require structural changes, prompting a reassessment of team composition and workflow.
When humans remain involved, organisations expect a 65% rise in human engagement in high-value tasks, a 53% increase in creativity, and a 49% improvement in employee satisfaction.
The projected US$450 billion in new economic value from AI agents includes both revenue growth and operational efficiencies, driven by the deployment of semi to fully autonomous systems.
Organisations with scaled implementations are expected to generate around US$382 million on average over the next three years, compared to US$76 million for those at earlier stages.
In the near term, AI agents are most likely to be used in customer service, IT, and sales, with further expansion into operations, research and development, and marketing over the next few years.
At present, only 15% of business processes are semi or fully autonomous, with this expected to grow to 25% by 2028.
Most agents currently serve in supporting roles, such as assistants or copilots, managing routine tasks rather than executing complex workflows independently.
The report notes that most organisations are not yet equipped to scale agentic AI effectively. 80% lack a mature AI infrastructure, and fewer than 20% report high levels of data readiness.
Ethical concerns such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and lack of explainability remain prevalent.
For instance, although over half (51%) of organisations cite privacy as a concern, only 34% are actively addressing it.
Moreover, only half of business leaders say they fully understand the capabilities of AI agents, with even fewer able to identify where these systems outperform traditional automation.
To fully realise the benefits of agentic AI, Capgemini recommends that organisations move beyond hype and focus on redesigning processes, rethinking business models, restructuring teams, and balancing automation with human oversight.
Featured image credit: Capgemini Research Institute
