Antti Karjalainen, co-founder at Sema4.ai.
In the race to harness artificial intelligence (AI), enterprise AI agents have emerged. While tech giants and startups showcase the transformative power of AI, a crucial fact is often overlooked: The majority of enterprise AI agents won’t be built by Silicon Valley engineers but by business professionals who understand their industries inside-out. This could mark the start of a true enterprise agent revolution, where business leaders steer their own AI future.
AI’s Elusive ‘Killer App’
The tech world has long sought AI’s “killer app.” Enterprise AI agents, with the potential to redefine productivity and reshape business operations, could contend for this role. Industry giants like Salesforce are already shifting strategies to leverage this game-changing technology.
Yet, many organizations that attempt to harness AI’s potential often find themselves stalled. After months—or even years—of in-house AI projects, some companies still struggle to deliver meaningful progress. While businesses excel at understanding their own industries, few are able to scale cutting-edge AI software or understand the metrics that determine whether AI is positively impacting the business.
Business leaders looking to implement enterprise agents need to bridge the gap between business expertise and AI technology. This enables leaders to craft agents that understand their processes inside and out and act as strategic assets powered by business leaders’ domain knowledge. Business leaders need to apply their industry knowledge to shape AI agents that truly serve their business needs.
What It Takes To Put The ‘Enterprise’ In Enterprise AI Agents
Enterprise AI agents are not one-size-fits-all solutions; they should be designed to speak the language of your industry, seamlessly integrating with existing business processes and systems. As business leaders, you should think about how these agents might align with your organization’s needs.
There are critical characteristics every business leader should consider when shaping or evaluating enterprise AI agents. These benchmarks can help determine whether an AI solution can drive your business forward in a meaningful way. Based on my experience, here are five key lessons for business leaders shaping AI agents, whether you’re evaluating AI agent solutions or re-evaluating your existing in-house AI agent program:
1. Take ownership as business users.
The power of enterprise agents lies in their ability to be shaped by those who understand the business best. Systems should be defined in clear terms by business users for business users. Ensure that control remains with line-of-business experts, providing the agility to adapt to changing needs without constant reliance on IT departments.
2. Prioritize contextual awareness.
Enterprise AI agents must be more than just smart—they need to be contextually aware. Being contextually aware comprises the full business context, including applications, data and documents. This means seamlessly accessing and interpreting data across various systems, integrating with existing business applications, and deciphering complex, unstructured documents all while adhering to strict security and access policies.
3. Aim for better outputs through continuous training.
To truly unlock AI’s full potential and free up human resources, enterprise agents should operate independently around the clock. This goes beyond simple chatbot interactions, enabling complex, multi-step processes to be executed without human intervention.
Business leaders must ensure their enterprise AI agents are designed to learn and adapt to remain valuable. This means incorporating user feedback, adjusting to changing business conditions and seamlessly integrating advancements in AI technology. Through continuous feedback and training, business leaders can ensure their systems are constantly improving and providing better outputs.
4. Ensure full transparency of reasoning and actions.
In the high-stakes world of enterprise operations, accuracy and explainability aren’t optional—they are imperative. Enterprise agents must provide a comprehensive audit trail, explaining their decision-making process and actions while conforming to all security, governance, and compliance requirements.
5. Operate with controlled security and governance from inception to production.
Enterprise agents are your digital employees who can access some of the most sensitive information and systems. This is why it’s vital that every stage of an agent’s lifecycle is operated within a tightly monitored environment with well-specified controls, access policies and boundaries.
The message for forward-thinking leaders is clear: The future of enterprise AI isn’t just about technology; it’s about empowering those who understand the business to use that technology. Business leaders aren’t just creating or adopting new tools; they’re actively shaping the AI future of their industries. This is the essence of the enterprise agent revolution—a future where AI is not just used by businesses but is a powerful ally crafted by the leaders driving innovation.
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