Business
Ema and PwC Explore Agentic AI's Impact on Organizational Design
85% of organizations aim to adopt agentic AI within three years, but 76% lack the infrastructure to support it, according to new research.
Photo: Sun God Apolo / Pexels
The adoption of enterprise-level AI agents is growing rapidly, yet a gap persists between organizational ambitions and execution capabilities. While 85% of organizations express a desire to implement agentic AI within the next three years, 76% claim their current operations and infrastructure are insufficient to support this transition, as noted by a recent report. Organizations cite a lack of readiness in people, processes, and workflows as key barriers. Prasun Shah, global CTO for workforce consulting and chief AI officer at PwC UK Consulting, explains that many companies are embedding AI agents into existing human-operated systems, akin to 'adding sticky tapes to a breaking operating model.' This approach may hinder the full realization of agentic AI's potential, which lies in its ability to execute workflows with minimal human input, coordinate complex tasks, and adapt to changing conditions. Early trials suggest that AI agents could accelerate business processes by up to 50% and reduce low-value work time by 40% when deployed at scale. However, this potential requires a fundamental rethinking of organizational structures and workflows. *Source: [mittr](https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/05/26/1137584/rethinking-organizational-design-in-the-age-of-agentic-ai/)*
Key points
- 85% of organizations say they want to be agentic within the next three years.
- 76% say their current operations and infrastructure can’t support that change.
- Ema describes the change as agentic business transformation (ABT), a term coined in partnership with HFS Research.
- ABT encompasses an organization’s technology stack, workforce, and success metrics.
- AI agents can create 'a true competitive differentiation for an enterprise' by making decisions based on contextualization.
- McKinsey predicts that by 2030, three-quarters of current jobs will require redesign, upskilling, or redeployment.
- Ema’s customer saw a tripling of ROI from agentic AI after switching from tool metrics to outcome-based metrics.