AI Agents Drive Business Process Integration in 2025

KPMG's AI Pulse Survey for Q4 2024 found that 51% of organizations are exploring AI agents, with another 37% piloting the technology. These intelligent, often autonomous agents can understand natural language, bridge information gaps, and integrate across systems.

Key Focus Areas: While initial automation targets include administrative tasks and call center operations, the real excitement lies in AI agents' ability to integrate into end-to-end business processes, offering clearer ROI than early GenAI iterations.

Cross-Functional Impact: Technologists must deepen their understanding of processes in finance, HR, procurement, supply chain, and sales/marketing to maximize AI agent effectiveness. CIOs are leveraging AI-integrated enterprise applications from vendors to minimize disruption.

Expert Insights:

• Isaac Sacolick (StarCIO): "Look at your core applications first, because they hold the data and processes where agents can provide the most value."
• Francesco Brenna (IBM): "Agentic AI can shift focus from incremental productivity gains to transforming end-to-end processes."

Real-World Example: SAP's financial management AI agents can resolve invoice disputes by:

1. Monitoring customer inquiries
2. Generating case summaries
3. Proposing solutions via help desk interaction
4. Drafting response emails for human review

Future Vision:

• Push-button innovation: Agents may soon analyze workflows to suggest performance improvements autonomously.
• Escalator vs. staircase: Systems could self-upgrade processes without manual intervention.
• CIO Role Expansion: Change management becomes critical as agents propose and implement workflow changes.

More on Agentic AI: Learn how it's transforming the CIO role .