How AI Agents are revolutionising business efficiency

From marketing automation to IT modernisation, AI agents are bridging the gap between human capacity and machine intelligence, unlocking productivity gains we have never seen before.

We’ve seen AI agents evolving beyond basic automation to revolutionising business operations with intelligent decision-making, process optimisation, and autonomous task execution.

McKinsey had estimated that by 2024, use of artificial intelligence in companies would rise to 72%, and the market for AI agents would increase at a CAGR of 45.8% through 2030. With the current technological landscape in view, this almost feels like a prophecy.

So, what are AI agents, and why exactly are they crucial for any business transformation and achieving maximum efficiency?

Let’s dive in together.

What are AI agents and how do they work?

AI agents are intelligent software entities that use machine learning, memory, and decision-making frameworks to complete tasks autonomously.

Unlike old-school automation that just follows a script, AI Agents think on their feet – learning, adapting, and making better decisions! For businesses to achieve their full potential, this is a game changer.

So how do AI Agents operate?

They do so by using observe-plan-act cycle, enabling them to interact with their environment dynamically and self-improve over time.

1. Observe: It’s the phase in which they gather data from various resources like databases, IoT sensors, customer interactions, and process information.

This enables them to:

• • • Keep contextual awareness for making decisions.
    • Track performance indicators instantly.

2. Plan: By using large language models (LLMs) and small language models (SLMs), AI agents assess data, prioritise actions and formulate execution plans.

Things they taken into consideration:

• • • Real-time requirements and restrictions.
    • Learnt experiences combined with historical facts.

3. Act: Once a plan is formulated, AI agents will start executing tasks autonomously, while interacting with business tools like:

• • • CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) for marketing and sales
    • HR management software for hiring and on-boarding
    • IT infrastructure for system automation and monitoring.

So how do AI agents improve business efficiency?

1. Improve productivity by handling repetitive tasks: Data entry, invoicing, and appointment scheduling slow down business processes and drain productivity from employees. AI agents can take on these low-value tasks, allowing businesses to use human resources on important projects.

• • • Real-world impact: Through handling daily administrative tasks, AI-powered automation can save up to 30% of employees’ time (McKinsey).
    • Implication: A finance firm using AI Agents to categorise expenses, detect anomalies, and approve transactions can cut invoice processing time by 55-70%.

2. Making informed decisions at scale: AI agents process millions of data points in seconds to find trends, risks, and opportunities, unlike traditional systems which rely on intuition and manual analysis most of the times. AI agents take smarter, quicker, and more accurate decision because of their operation.

• • • Real-world impact: AI-driven analytics can improve forecasting accuracy up to 50%. (Gartner).
    • Implication: AI agents in marketing can potentially raise conversion rates by 35% by analysing consumer behaviour across several channels.

3. Integrating with intelligent systems and optimising workflow: AI agents do more than just automating tasks, they optimise entire business productivity and production by integrating perfectly with multiple systems, anticipate bottlenecks, and promote cross-departmental cooperation.

• • • Real-world impact: Businesses that implement AI-driven workflow automation report a 30-40% increase in operational efficiency (Deloitte).
    • Implications: In supply chain management, AI agents could predict fluctuations in demand, organise and optimise warehouse storage and reduce inventory waste by 20%

4. Revolutionising customer service with AI agents: Customer expectations have risen more than ever. By offering 24/7 peronalised assistance, AI agents help to reduce waiting times and improve client satisfaction. Unlike simple chatbots, AI agents retain data, understand context and develop from interactions, providing an overall better customer service.

• • • Real-world impact: AI-powered customer service can answer 80% of routine questions without human involvement, therefore lowering response times by 60% (Forrester).
    • Implication: An e-commerce company can reduce customer service costs by 20-30% and improve accuracy in responses by using AI agents for managing FAQs, refunds, and order tracking,

5. Builds compliance by reducing human errors: Mistakes made in data handling, financial processing, or compliance management could have expensive consequences. Tasks that require high precision executed with AI agents ensure regulatory compliance and helps reduce financial risks.

• • • Real-world impact: AI-driven automation may reduce errors by 30–50%, therefore avoiding compliance fines and raising operational accuracy (PwC).
    • Implication: Medical coding systems powered by AI can help hospitals lower billing errors by 40%, speeding up approvals required for insurance claims.

 Top 5 AI Agents that are transforming business in 2025

1. Open AI’s Operator: Designed to automate web-based tasks and streamline workflows efficiently. It has demonstrated an 87% success rate on routine web tasks in early evaluations. (AI Weekly)
2. Oracle’s AI solutions: Focuses on optimising and automating IT infrastructure and database management from predictive analytics
3. SAP’s Joule: Enhances enterprise resource planning, automates routine business functions, and supports data-driven decision-making, making operations more agile and efficient.
4. Nvidia’s Eureka: Focuses on AI-powered research and development, automates simulations, enhances product design, and optimises data analysis for various industries.
5. Google’s Project Jarvis: Provide intelligent assistance, automate repetitive tasks, and offer valuable business insights, improving overall productivity and organisation. It also integrates with Google’s suite of services.

 Future of AI Agents: What’s next?

Over the next five years, AI agents are set to evolve exponentially.  Companies will have to:

• Create frameworks of AI governance that will ensure compliance and ethical use
• Teach staff about AI cooperation to improve human-AI teamwork
• Provide training to employees to enhance human-AI teamwork
• Integrate AI into workflows to boost business efficiency and scale operations

Start integrating AI agents into your company right now to take the lead in this digital era.
Whether automating workflows, enhancing decision-making, or scaling operations, AI agents are the future of work.