Before You Hire AI: What Every Business Leader Should Know

Not long ago, I was chatting with the founder of a retail business who said something that stuck with me: “AI feels like an expensive gym membership; everyone talks about having one, but no one knows what to do with it.” He was spot on. For a lot of small and mid-sized businesses, AI still feels distant. There’s interest, yes. But there’s also confusion, cost concerns, and a big question mark around value. Now, there’s a new kind of AI being talked about: Agentic AI - intelligent, goal-oriented digital “agents” that can take on tasks like gig workers.

- BY SREEKUMAR PILLAI

WHAT IS AGENTIC AI?

Agentic AI is a step up from basic automation. These agents aren’t just reacting to commands, they’re making decisions, solving problems, and figuring out how to get results with minimal supervision. Think of them as mini-AI employees. For example, you could have a digital marketing agent that runs ad campaigns or a finance agent that can perform bank reconciliation processes which are usually time consuming and cumbersome. It’s a big idea. But also, it’s still in it’s early days.