Corporate Spending on Agentic AI Surges Despite Implementation Gaps

Companies are pouring over $10 million into agentic AI systems with little understanding of their actual capabilities. The term has become a catch-all for generative AI applications, leading to a significant disconnect between investment and functionality. One in five senior executives reports expenditures exceeding $10 million, with nearly a third planning similar allocations next year.

EY's global AI leader Dan Diasio notes the market's rush to capitalize on the hype: "Agentic AI has a buzz about it that many want to exploit. We're seeing generative AI tools rebranded as agentic without meeting the criteria." True agentic systems, he emphasizes, operate autonomously—identifying tasks, understanding context, and executing without prompts, unlike current assistant-like implementations.

Despite heavy spending, adoption lags. Only 14% of companies have fully deployed agentic AI solutions, while others remain stuck in pilot phases. The bottleneck stems from organizational unpreparedness, particularly around data infrastructure and process integration.