Focus changing from generative AI to AI agents
AI investment remains strong with a gradual change of focus from generative AI (GenAI) toward AI-ready data and AI agents, according to a report from market research firm Gartner. “A sharper emphasis is being placed on using AI for operational scalability and real-time intelligence. This has led to a gradual pivot from GenAI as a central focus, toward the foundational enablers that support sustainable AI delivery, such as AI-ready data and AI agents”, says Haritha Khandabattu, the firm’s senior director analyst.
This trend is also stressed in a recent report on tech trends by consultancy McKinsey saying that in addition to the growing reach of AI, another new trend is agentic AI, “which has rapidly emerged as a major focus of interest and experimentation in enterprise and consumer technology.”
McKinsey says that although quantitative measures of interest and equity investment levels are as yet relatively low compared with more established trends, agentic AI is among the fastest growing of this year’s trends, signaling its potentially revolutionary possibilities.
AI agents and AI-ready data are the two fastest advancing technologies on Gartner’s 2025 hype cycle for AI.
Among the AI innovations Gartner expects will reach mainstream adoption within the next five years are multimodal AI and AI trust and risk and security management (TRiSM).
“Together, these developments will enable more robust, innovative and responsible AI applications, transforming how businesses and organizations operate.”
“Despite the enormous potential business value of AI, it isn’t going to materialize spontaneously,” says Khandabattu. “Success will depend on tightly business aligned pilots, proactive infrastructure benchmarking, and coordination between AI and business teams to create tangible business value.”
“To reap the benefits of AI agents, organisations need to determine the most relevant business contexts and use cases, which is challenging given no AI agent is the same and every situation is different”.
“Although AI agents will continue to become more powerful, they can’t be used in every case, so use will largely depend on the requirements of the situation at hand.”
AI-ready data ensures datasets are optimised for AI applications, enhancing accuracy and efficiency. According to Gartner, organisations that invest in AI at scale need to evolve their data management practices and capabilities to extend them to AI.
The forecast says multimodal AI will become increasingly integral to capability advancement in every application and software product across all industries over the next five years.
“AI TRiSM plays a crucial role in ensuring ethical and secure AI deployment. It comprises four layers of technical capabilities that support enterprise policies for all AI use cases and help assure AI governance, trustworthiness, fairness, safety, reliability, security, privacy and data protection.”
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