Business Leaders Can’t Afford to Be Dinosaurs in the Age of Autonomous Systems & Agentic AI
AI is evolving faster than most organisations can react. In a single day, a small startup can dethrone tech giants, shift valuations by trillions, and rewrite the rules of what’s possible. If you’re not paying attention, you’re already behind.
We’ve entered the era of agentic AI, a new phase of artificial intelligence where systems don’t just respond to prompts. They act on your behalf. If you’re still operating like it’s 2022, you might be the dinosaur watching the asteroid….
We discuss what agentic AI is, why it matters for your business, and what you can do next.
The Shift from Generative AI to Reasoning AI to Agentic AI
To understand what makes agentic AI different, you need to look at the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence:
Early AI focused on pattern recognition. Think Netflix suggestions or Amazon recommendations.
In late 2022, generative AI exploded. Suddenly, anyone with a keyboard could create content, write code, or automate communications.
Now we’re entering the reasoning and agentic stage. These models think step by step, solve complex problems, and increasingly act independently.
In just over two years, AI has gone from a passive tool to an autonomous actor. And that shift is already disrupting industries.
What Is Agentic AI and Why Does It Matter?
Agentic AI refers to systems that operate as autonomous agents. These agents anticipate, decide, and take action with limited human involvement.
Examples include:
- Booking your next trip based on your calendar and location
- Managing your grocery list based on fridge contents
- Planning your week and sending updates based on work patterns
Agentic AI doesn’t wait for direction. It observes your needs and produces new outcomes on your behalf. This presents huge opportunities for efficiency and automation, but also introduces complex risks.
Watch the full breakdown from Michael Watkins and The Big Think here:
The Business Impact of Agentic AI
Michael Watkins, professor of leadership and organisational change at IMD Business School, said it plainly:
“If you don’t understand it, you can’t help your organisation adapt.”
We break down what that means for your business:
1. Speed is your biggest threat
A single model launch from an unexpected startup led to a massive sell-off in the tech sector, wiping out significant valuation from the dominant players overnight. These are the stakes. Disruption no longer unfolds over years. It happens in days, sometimes hours.
If you’re not actively testing, learning, and iterating with emerging tools, you’re not behind, you’re obsolete.
2. Basic AI literacy isn’t enough
It’s not enough to know AI exists. You need to get hands-on with new models, explore real use cases in your workflow, and pressure test how they operate in your environment. Literacy is no longer passive knowledge. It’s functional capability.
3. Prompting is a leadership skill
Watkins highlights a critical shift. The quality of your prompt determines the quality of your result. Especially with reasoning models, the outcome depends entirely on how clearly you frame the task. Leading in the age of AI means learning how to talk to the machine in a clear, specific way, and with context.
4. Built-in optimism can distort reality
These systems are trained to be helpful and agreeable, which often results in overly optimistic answers. When asked about the employment impacts of AI, one model initially gave a soft, reassuring answer. After being pushed, it acknowledged a far more severe outlook – forecasting a potential net loss of three to four jobs for every one created.
If you’re taking AI generated answers at face value, you’re likely getting a filtered version of reality. Leaders need to challenge the response, not just accept it.
What Should You Do to Prepare for Agentic AI?
Want to ride the wave instead of getting crushed by it? Here are five specific steps you can take:
- Start small. Run internal pilots with agentic AI tools.
- Upskill your team in prompt engineering and reasoning models.
- Identify business processes that could be agent-enabled.
- Set clear parameters for reviewing AI outputs.
- Build a company culture that rewards experimentation and adaptability.
You don’t need to transform your entire organisation at once. But you do need to act now. The firms that wait will lose.
Final Thought: Be the Surfer, Not the Dinosaur
You can’t stop the wave. But you can learn to surf it.
Michael Watkins leaves us with this:
“You have to be the surfer, surfing the wave as things go forward. It’s the only answer I’ve come up with for how to continue to thrive in a time of really extraordinary change.”
Agentic AI is not coming. It’s already here. Start small, test often, and lean into the discomfort because adapting is the only real strategy left.
If you’re ready to see how agentic AI can make a real impact in your business, Automwrite is a practical place to start. It’s not just automation, it’s AI that understands what you need as an adviser, and delivers. Explore Automwrite today and see what it means to be always future ready.
