Expectations Are Outpacing Results

Agentic AI has rapidly become a strategic priority across GBS organisations. Our research shows that generative and agentic AI now rank as the number one technology investment priority, surpassing traditional automation technologies and analytics.

This reflects a belief that AI will become a foundational component of future operating models – not just an automation tool, but a transformative force.

Expectations Are Outpacing Results

Board Expectations for Changing the GBS Model

Nearly 40% of respondents report strong pressure from leadership to change their service delivery model because of agentic AI.

Only a small minority indicate that executive leadership has not yet developed clear expectations. However, there is a significant gap between executive expectations and what has been achieved to date.

Most organisations (84%) report less than 10% realised FTE reductions from current implementations. At the same time, respondents believe long-term workforce impacts will be substantially larger, with 35% expecting agentic AI to reduce their workforce by at least a quarter.

This gap highlights one of the defining characteristics of the current market: expectations are running ahead of deployment maturity.