Start working with computers, not on them  

AI agents are here, and your work will never be the same.  

80% of today’s knowledge work - think marketing, accounting, software development, etc. -  will be eaten by agentic software by 2029.   So your choice is now clear: next-level by partnering with agents or risk being left behind.

But haven’t we had AI tools for a while now?

Yes, but this is different. 

AI tools have been around for years. Grammarly polishes your prose and Tableau crafts dazzling data visualizations. The user is in control, the tool boosts efficiency. 

AI agents, on the other hand, are autonomous workers. They take over entire workflows, executing tasks, learning from experience, and adapting to new challenges. While tools support you, agents act on your behalf - as your virtual employee or colleague.

A construction parallel

Consider you’re about to build a new home.  Today you’d hire a team of contractors - framers, carpenters, masons, electricians, plumbers and roofers - leveraging their power tools (e.g., nail guns, circular saws, paint sprayers, power drills, etc.).   

This is the “tech-enablement” play that we’re seeing with today’s AI tools such as Github Copilot (which makes the average developer 27% more productive).  Think of Copilot as the circular saw for the carpenter.  

But what if that building contractor could - instead of hiring a team of humans with power tools - simply hire a team of specialized robots (e.g., a carpenter robot, a plumber robot, etc.)?  And not just five or ten robots?  If cheap enough, 100 robots? 

How quickly could the house be built, and at what price point?  And what human workers would be left on the job site, and exactly what would they do? 

In 2025, agents will hit the following workflows hard:

1. Customer Service: agents will streamline customer interactions by automating repetitive tasks and providing 24/7 support.  Agentic focus areas include: 

• Chatbots and Virtual Assistants

• Sentiment Analysis

• Personalized Experiences

• Proactive Outreach

2. Marketing: agents will create data-driven, hyper-personalized campaigns with minimal human oversight, such as:

• Content Generation

• Campaign Optimization

• Audience Segmentation

• Lead Scoring

3. Sales: agents will augment sales teams by automating administrative tasks and enabling smarter selling strategies, such as:

• Sales Outreach

• Pipeline Management

• Dynamic Pricing

• Sales Training

4. Software Development: agents will reduce the complexity and time required for coding, testing, and deployment, such as:

• Code Generation

• Automated Testing

• Continuous Deployment

• Project Management

5. IT Security: agents will enhance organizational defenses by identifying, responding to, and mitigating threats autonomously, including:

• Threat Detection

• Incident Response

• Compliance Monitoring

• Risk Assessment

And these are just a small number of functional agents.  Vertically-oriented agents are bursting onto the scene as well, from Legal to Finance, Retail, Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare.  

Making sense of the Cambrian explosion

With thousands of agents flooding the market, the landscape is chaotic.  They vary wildly in quality, capability and sophistication.  

To make sense of it all, we categorize agents into five levels:

1. Basic Assistants: Perform simple, rule-based tasks

2. Smart Assistants: Analyze data and offer recommendations

3. Advanced Assistants: Autonomously execute complex workflows within predefined boundaries

4. Collaborative Agents: Work alongside humans, sharing responsibilities

5. Autonomous Agents: Independently manage entire roles and evolve over time

Despite the marketing hype, most of today’s agents are still at assistant level (between levels 1 and 3).  

How do you stay ahead?  Get your own agent.  

To make sense of this new era - and select the right agents for you - you need more than skills; you need an agent of your own.  That’s where TalentAgent comes in.

Much like a personal talent agent, the platform guides career strategy and planning, keeps you aligned with market demands, connects to top opportunities, and ensures you receive the compensation you deserve.  And during these times the key elements are:

• Assess your AI Exposure Index (AIX) to measure your readiness.

• Use the AgentHub Marketplace to find and "hire" agents that turbocharge your output.

• Connect with a community of peers navigating the same challenges.

• Discover job opportunities tailored to your AI-empowered skillset.

The bottom line: The future is agent-first

By 2029, work will no longer revolve around humans using tools but around humans and agents working together. Those who embrace AI agents as allies will thrive. Those who don’t? Well, they might be the cautionary tale of the next decade.

So buckle up, get your own ai agents lined up, and get ready for the most exciting transformation in the history of work. It’s going to be a wild ride.