AI Investments Surge, but Agentic AI Understanding and Adoption Lag Behind – AiThority

The third EY US AI Pulse Survey highlights a critical tension: Businesses are investing millions in AI, but significant implementation barriers may be limiting agentic AI’s potential

Despite massive AI investments, most organizations are still in the dark about what agentic AI really is — and how to use it. The latest EY US AI Pulse Survey, released reveals a marked disconnect between ambition and execution. The survey, which polled 500 US-employed decision-makers (senior vice presidents and above) across a diverse range of industries, indicates that organizations remain bullish on AI investments, signaling strong confidence in the technology’s value amid agentic AI-fueled enthusiasm. Approximately 21% of senior leaders whose organization is investing in AI say their organizations have currently invested $10 million or more in AI, up from 16% just a year ago, while a third (35%) anticipate spending $10 million or more on AI next year. Although AI ROI remains high, there is a significant divide between senior leaders’ commitment to agentic AI and its full-scale adoption. While early agentic AI implementations are delivering tangible benefits, only 14% of senior leaders report agentic AI technology has been fully implemented in their organization.

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“AI agents can revolutionize the way we work and unlock possibilities that were once unimaginable,” says Dan Diasio, EY Global Consulting AI Leader. “Business executives are grappling with the tension between their awe of AI’s potential and the complexity of integrating it meaningfully into their organizations. What’s next for leaders is to harness the combined strengths of AI and human ingenuity and channel cost savings into groundbreaking innovations.”

Strong ROI fuels AI investments, but agentic AI adoption and understanding lag
The EY US AI Pulse data reveals that a remarkable 97% of senior leaders whose organizations are investing in AI are seeing positive ROI from AI across business functions. While nearly every senior leader says AI is paying off, the real gains go to those who go big. Organizations investing 5% or more of their total budget in AI are pulling ahead fast, especially in technology upgrades (82% vs. 62%), customer satisfaction (78% vs. 55%) and cybersecurity (78% vs. 49%), compared to companies that spend less than 5%.

With this tangible ROI paving the way for more sophisticated AI applications, approximately 34% of senior leaders indicate their organization has already started to implement agentic AI technology, with early adopters putting agentic AI to work in practical ways. Senior leaders report their organization is currently leveraging agentic AI for assisting/managing processes (86%), including (among other tasks):

• Enhancing customer support (55%)
• Improving IT efficiency (55%)
• Improving cybersecurity (51%)

Despite these promising starts, full-scale implementation remains limited. The cautious pace uncovered by the research is particularly notable given many leaders believe that senior leaders in their industry (57%) and even in their own organization (54%) fail to understand the benefits of agentic AI.

Autonomous vision meets practical concerns and human oversight
The survey uncovers a fascinating paradox: While a striking 73% of senior leaders believe that one day entire business units will be managed by agentic AI, this bold vision is tempered by practical concerns. In fact, about nine-in-ten (87%) report there are barriers to agentic AI adoption in their organization, with some of the key barriers including:

• Cybersecurity concerns (35%)
• Data privacy concerns (30%)
• Lack of regulations over agentic AI usage (21%)
• Lack of company policies around agentic AI (21%)

Despite these challenges, an overwhelming majority (89%) of senior leaders believe that while they are optimistic about agentic AI’s benefits, built-in human intervention will always be crucial. Reinforcing this perspective, a significant trend shows more senior leaders (64% vs. 49% year over year (YoY)) anticipate that their organization will spend more time training employees on how to use AI responsibly over the next year. This increased focus on training directly addresses a major underlying concern: a majority (64%) of senior leaders agree that the fear of replacement, as opposed to augmentation, will stifle agentic AI adoption.

Even with these widespread fears about job security and the acknowledged need for more training, only a quarter (24%) of senior leaders identify employee resistance itself as one of the biggest barriers to adopting agentic AI in their organization.

Strategic shift: prioritizing in-house and custom AI solutions
The consistent positive AI ROI highlighted by the EY US AI Pulse Survey data is likely fueling a strategic shift in how organizations invest in AI.

More senior leaders say their organization is building custom AI solutions in-house (64% vs. 56% YoY) and focusing less on acquiring firms with AI capabilities outright (45% vs. 51% YoY), signaling organizations are strengthening their internal AI capabilities. The emphasis on in-house development reflects a maturation of the AI market, where organizations are prioritizing their own AI capabilities to drive true differentiation and avoid the “sea of sameness” offered by popular solutions.

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“While the allure of autonomous systems is strong, our findings underscore the importance of a deliberate and human-centric approach to agentic AI,” says Whitt Butler, EY Americas Vice Chair, Consulting. “The future of work will be shaped by how well organizations prepare their people, embed responsible governance and align AI capabilities with real business outcomes.”