This McKinsey & Company report, "Seizing the agentic AI advantage," discusses the current "gen AI paradox" where widespread adoption of generative AI has led to minimal bottom-line impact for many companies.
The core argument is that while horizontal AI applications like chatbots have scaled easily, more transformative vertical, function-specific uses remain largely in pilot stages due to various barriers.
The report proposes AI agents as the solution, explaining how these autonomous, goal-driven systems can move beyond simple task assistance to reinvent complex business workflows and unlock significant value.
It emphasizes that achieving this requires a fundamental shift in organizational strategy, technology architecture (the "agentic AI mesh"), and human-agent collaboration models, with a clear mandate for CEOs to lead this transformation.
