Investment in agent AI is expected to increase by 38% next year, but the primary barrier to scale is organizational readiness, not technology.
new york, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Genpact (NYSE:G), an agent and advanced technology solutions company, today announced a new research report with HFS Research. Achieving autonomy requires trust in AI, This reveals a significant gap between agent AI ambitions and organizational readiness. This study examines the key barriers that enterprises face when scaling agent AI and identifies the fundamental elements (accountability, measurement, people, and processes) needed to move AI from a productivity tool to an autonomous execution layer within the enterprise.
The study, based on a survey of 545 senior executives across 11 industries and interviews with leaders from Fortune 2000 companies, found that 92% of respondents believe agent AI (systems that can autonomously coordinate tasks and make decisions) will fundamentally change the way work is done. Despite this, nearly 80% of organizations still operate these systems in supervised mode, with humans holding final approval for most operations.
“Enterprises have proven that generative AI can accelerate work. The next frontier is proving that agent AI can responsibly perform work.” Ajay Vasal, Global Leader of Genpact Data and AI. “Moving from assisted to autonomous AI is more than a technology upgrade, it requires a fundamental rethink of the operating model. Success will depend on how organizations redesign processes to incorporate accountability and decision-making power, while also properly equipping the workforce so that agentic AI acts as a true extension of human intent.”
Main findings
The study points to four fundamental factors that determine whether agent AI scales up to autonomous execution or remains experimental.
- Gap between trust and responsibility: Only 22% of organizations are comfortable giving broad autonomy to AI agents. The biggest barriers are not technical, but center around regulatory risk, reputational risk, lack of accountability, and unclear responsibilities.
- Investment is increasing, but indicators are lagging: Companies expect to scale agent AI within an average of 17 months, and spending is expected to increase by 38% next year. However, 67% still rely on outdated productivity metrics that do not capture the value of autonomous decision-making.
- Flatter organizations, changing skills gaps: 44% of executives expect management layers to decrease as agent AI absorbs coordination efforts. At the same time, today’s most sought-after skills have shifted from building AI to operating alongside it: workflow orchestration and integration (42%), data engineering (39%), and monitoring and observability (36%). This means that structural redesign for autonomy is progressing faster than human role design.
- Process preparation is the main barrier. 33% of respondents cited unprepared business processes as the biggest barrier to agentic AI adoption, emphasizing that workflow redesign, not technology, will determine how far autonomy can be extended.
Four key actions to expand your autonomy
This report identifies four key actions to move beyond experimentation to enterprise-wide autonomous execution.
- Accountability: Define the owner of agent actions and failures.
- measurement: Employ agent-native KPIs to track outcomes such as autonomous workflow completion.
- people: Clarify roles and define new human oversight responsibilities.
- process: Redesign your workflows to eliminate manual handoffs and incremental human approvals.
“The ambition for autonomy exceeds the ability to govern,” he said. Phil Fersht, HFS Research CEO and Principal Analyst. “The leaders in agentic AI will not be the earliest adopters, but those who redesign accountability, measurement, and human oversight to extend autonomy with control and deliver compounded value.”
For more information and to download the full report, please visit https://www.genpact.com/insight/autonomy-requires-trust-in-ai.
About Genpact
Genpact (NYSE:G) is an agent and advanced technology solutions company. We leverage process intelligence and artificial intelligence to deliver measurable outcomes. With a strong partner ecosystem and decades of client trust, we deliver innovative solutions that transform the way businesses operate. Driven by an active learning mindset and a team with customer-centricity at our core, we deliver lasting value to the world’s leading companies.
Get to know us at genpact.com and on LinkedIn, YouTube, X, and Facebook.
Media contact:
Geraldine Lim
Genpact Media Relations
+1-951-318-3494
[email protected]
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