What’s happening
Companies are deploying AI agents that complete multi-step tasks in customer service, finance and IT, usually with human checkpoints. Coordinating many agents reliably is still difficult.
Timing: LATER — roughly 5–10 years before this becomes structural.
Why it matters
If whole processes run themselves, organizations can scale without adding staff — and managers shift from supervising people to supervising systems.
What would make it real
- Agents handle complete processes with low error rates
- Clear rules on what agents can approve on their own
- Audit and accountability systems designed for agent decisions
What would kill it
- Errors compound across multi-step processes
- Accountability gaps when something goes wrong
- Workers and regulators push back