Core Insights

  • According to a recent survey by Big Four accounting firm Ernst & Young, nearly half (48%) of technology companies have begun adopting or fully deploying AI agents.
  • The research shows that overall momentum in AI investment continues to strengthen, with 92% of tech leaders expecting to increase AI spending in the coming year, up 10 percentage points from March 2024. Among respondents planning to increase spending, 43% said that more than half of their current AI budget is already allocated to agents.
  • "Our survey once again confirms tech leaders' ambitions for AI spending and the trend of transitioning from pilots to production, which are positive signals," said James Brundage, EY's global and Americas technology sector leader, in a press release. "However, despite their optimism, these tech leaders still face significant pressure to demonstrate return on investment through measurable and tangible revenue and profit results."

Deeper Analysis

An increasing number of enterprise software companies are beginning to offer AI agents designed to streamline business processes such as finance, human resources, and sales.

According to a blog post published in March by investment advisory firm Adams Street Partners, AI agents have the ability to make independent decisions, pursue long-term goals, and solve problems.

The blog noted: "Unlike traditional AI, which is typically reactive and limited to specific tasks, agentic AI operates with a degree of autonomy, dynamically interacting with its environment, other models, and humans to achieve defined goals."

During a February earnings call, Amy Weaver, then CFO of Salesforce, said the company expects its new agentic AI product, "Agentforce," to make a "modest contribution" to revenue this year. She noted that the product is still in the early stages of customer adoption.

"We expect this momentum to build gradually throughout the year and make a more meaningful contribution in fiscal 2027," Weaver said at the time.

EY found that tech executives are adopting agentic AI for reasons including staying competitive and helping customers. More than 80% of surveyed tech leaders said they expect to hire in the next six months due to AI adoption.

Meanwhile, some tech companies are using layoffs to free up funds for reinvestment in AI-related projects.

"Amid macroeconomic and trade environment uncertainties, executives remain overwhelmingly optimistic about the business value that agentic AI can deliver," Brundage said.

EY surveyed more than 500 tech leaders in April.