The Rise of AI Agents: The Next Wave of Enterprise Transformation

A new phase in the AI journey

Artificial intelligence has already transformed how organizations operate, from automating workflows to personalizing customer experiences. But we’re now entering a new phase: one where AI stops being a passive assistant and starts becoming an active participant in business processes.

This phase is powered by AI agents, autonomous or semi-autonomous digital entities that can understand context, make decisions, and take action across systems.

Where previous generations of AI helped us analyze, AI agents will help us act.

At Forte, we see this as a defining moment for digital transformation, one that will fundamentally reshape how enterprises organize, deliver value, and compete.

What exactly are AI agents?

An AI agent is not just a chatbot or a predictive model. It’s a system that combines multiple capabilities:

• Understanding context - reading instructions, data, and processes to know what’s required.

• Taking action - executing tasks autonomously, not just suggesting next steps.

• Learning continuously - improving performance over time based on outcomes.

• Collaborating - interacting with humans, systems, and even other agents to get work done.

In practice, AI agents can operate across departments and domains. For example:

• An HR agent can onboard new employees end-to-end, from contract generation to IT setup.

• A finance agent can process invoices, flag anomalies, and manage approvals.

• A customer service agent can resolve 80% of tickets automatically while escalating complex cases to humans.

These are not distant scenarios. They are already being implemented in forward-leaning organizations across Europe.

Why this changes everything

The rise of AI agents is more than a technology shift, it’s a structural transformation.

When AI can act on behalf of people and systems, the entire operating model changes.

1. From automation to orchestration

Traditional automation targets isolated processes: a single form, a workflow, a script. AI agents connect these into end-to-end value chains, coordinating multiple steps without human intervention. They don’t just speed up processes, they redesign them.

2. From efficiency to scale

Once an AI agent is trained on a process, it can operate 24/7 across thousands of transactions. This gives organizations a new form of scalability, one not limited by headcount or working hours.

3. From information to action

In traditional business intelligence, humans interpret data and decide what to do. AI agents close that gap, turning insight directly into execution. The result is a more responsive, adaptive enterprise where decision-making and delivery converge.

What leaders should focus on

While the potential of AI agents is massive, so are the challenges. Success will depend not on experimenting with tools, but on building the right foundation and governance.

Here’s what to prioritize:

1. Start with clear processes and goals

AI agents perform best when they operate within defined boundaries. Identify processes that are repetitive, rule-based, and high-volume, and set measurable outcomes for each. The goal is not to automate everything, but to automate what matters most.

2. Build on solid data infrastructure

AI agents are only as intelligent as the data they can access. If your data is fragmented, outdated, or locked in silos, agents won’t deliver consistent results. Invest in a unified, well-documented data platform, what we at Forte call the Agentic AI Platform: a structured, secure, and accessible foundation that lets agents collaborate safely across systems.

3. Ensure transparency and control

When AI starts making decisions, governance becomes critical. You need visibility into what agents do, how they decide, and when they escalate issues. Implement clear audit trails, monitoring, and ethical frameworks so that every automated decision can be explained and trusted.

From digital assistants to digital colleagues

The most exciting aspect of AI agents isn’t efficiency, it’s collaboration.

Imagine a future where AI agents and humans work side by side:

• Agents handle data retrieval, coordination, and execution.

• Humans focus on strategy, design, and customer relationships.

This is not science fiction. It’s already happening. We’ve seen organizations introduce AI “co-pilots” for operations teams, systems that monitor workflows, suggest optimizations, and even trigger actions automatically.

The result? Higher throughput, faster decisions, and teams freed to focus on innovation rather than administration.

The next frontier of organizational design

AI agents don’t just automate work, they change how work is structured.

When tasks can be executed autonomously, traditional hierarchies and workflows become less relevant.Instead, organizations will start designing around capabilities, not departments.

Imagine product teams that include not only designers, engineers, and analysts, but also AI agents specialized in data management, quality control, or communication.

In this model, humans orchestrate value creation, while agents execute it. The result is a more fluid, adaptive organization, one that can evolve in real time as the market changes.

Pragmatism before hype

It’s tempting to get caught up in the excitement around AI agents. But as with every technology wave, the winners will be those who balance ambition with structure.

At Forte, our advice is simple:

• Start small - test one or two agents in clearly defined processes.

• Measure impact - track time savings, quality improvements, and scalability.

• Scale with confidence - expand once the foundation is stable.

AI agents are not about replacing humans. They’re about augmenting human capacity, freeing people to focus on creativity, strategy, and empathy.

That’s the Scandinavian way: pragmatic progress, built on trust, collaboration, and purpose.

From hype to value

The rise of AI agents marks a new chapter in enterprise transformation. Just as the cloud reshaped infrastructure and data reshaped decision-making, agents will reshape how organizations operate.

The question for leaders is not whether this will happen, but how prepared you are to act.

Because the businesses that start building this capability today won’t just be more efficient tomorrow. They’ll be the ones designing the next generation of value creation.