Agentic AI: Are Indian CIOs ready for the next leap?

Strategy, infrastructure, and talent will shape the future of autonomous enterprises

- Praneeta

Just as you're preparing to sign off for the weekend, an email from the chief executive lands in your inbox. The subject line is innocuous, but the message is anything but: “What’s our plan for agentic AI?” With that, your evening changes course.

Buzzwords—‘autonomous agents,” “multi-step workflows,” “generative AI’—begin to swirl in your mind. You recall tales of agentic AI systems navigating complex processes with minimal human input. Some ended in impressive efficiency gains; others fizzled amid integration chaos and ballooning costs. Is your CEO merely curious, or is this the start of yet another urgent technology mandate?

The question is not unusual. According to Deloitte's latest State of GenAI report, more than 80% of Indian organisations are already exploring agentic AI—autonomous agents capable of pursuing goals independently.

Over half identify multi-agent orchestration as a strategic priority, and 70% plan to harness GenAI to automate workflows. In a sign of the times, 71% are juggling ten or more generative AI experiments simultaneously.

This is the new reality for enterprise IT leaders: just months after grappling with the implications of GenAI tools that compose emails or summarise documents: They now face its more operationally ambitious cousin. Agentic AI promises more than content creation. It pledges intelligent action.

As Mukesh Rathi, Global CIO of Hinduja Group, puts it: “The moment to act is now... Agentic AI has reached a level of maturity where early movers can gain a clear competitive edge.”

This month's cover story delves into the emerging paradigm of Agentic AI—how it builds on, yet diverges from, traditional generative AI, and what it signals for the next wave of enterprise automation. We also ask the critical question: Are CIOs prepared to lead this transformation, or will they risk falling behind in a rapidly evolving digital landscape?”

Why Agentic AI matters