As AI agents continue to emerge, Daryl Plummer, VP, distinguished analyst, and Gartner fellow, explores their role in business growth and customer satisfaction.
"It seems everybody's got an AI agent. They're popping up everywhere like insects in the middle of the night, and when you turn on the light, they scatter. There's so many of them, and people don't know what to do with them," said Plummer.
They're popping up everywhere like insects in the middle of the night, and when you turn on the light, they scatter.
Although AI agents prove helpful in various use cases, Plummer said the problem lies in being unable to differentiate AI agents and customers not knowing how to maximise them. Plummer added that the third problem lies in "what should we do to use agents to solve real problems for us?"
Guardian agents
With the rise of AI agents, Plummer said that guardian agents can oversee other AI agents to ensure reliability. He added that guardian agents are rising out of the need for more robust security: "They're arising out of this notion that we want these long-running autonomous goal-seeking agents that have agency. They have responsibility, they know what they're trying to do, and if someone co-opts that agency, they can abuse the agents and do bad things with them, so we got to get the right security for agents. We got to have AI oversee AI."
I'm getting tired of new features without a transformative purpose.
Transformative purpose
"I'm getting tired of new features without a transformative purpose," said Plummer. He said that this is an opportunity to be ambitious.
"Show me the ambitious AI agent. Show me the ambitious AI agent outcomes. Show me an ambitious, long-running autonomous AI agent that wakes people up. You do that, and I'll show you the money." Gartner analyst added.
Plummer acknowledged the potential of AI agents to perform complex tasks. With the proper guardrails and ambition, they can be the secret ingredient driving business growth and customer satisfaction.
A full video posted in Gartner.
