Workers Embrace Agentic AI Despite Concerns About Trust and Reliability, Says Research
Study reveals key areas organizations should focus on to ensure successful agentic AI adoption
Pegasystems Inc. (NASDAQ:PEGA), The Enterprise Transformation Company™, today announced its new research exploring workers' feelings toward agentic AI. While a majority of workers (57%) are inclined to use AI agents at work, the survey still finds significant concerns about reliability and quality persist. This highlights a dichotomy between the acceptance and distrust of agentic AI, which may be hindering wider adoption in the workplace.
As more organizations adopt agentic AI to improve operations and productivity, research indicates employees are embracing this new technology – 58% of workers surveyed are already using AI agents today. These early adopters are realizing useful benefits: 41% highlighted automation of tedious tasks as the primary benefit, followed by reduced time spent searching for job-related information (36%), and quick meeting summarization (34%).
Despite this, workers have reservations that prevent them from fully trusting agentic AI. When asked about the barriers to using AI agents, 33% are worried about the quality of work produced by AI, 32% point to a lack of human intuition and emotional intelligence, and 30% don't trust the accuracy of AI-generated responses.
Other key findings include:
- Emotional intelligence, quality, and trust remain key concerns: When asked to rate agentic AI concerns, the top ones were clear: 47% believe AI lacks human intuition and emotional intelligence, 40% are uncomfortable submitting AI-generated work, and 34% worry that AI-produced work isn't as good as their own, tied with concerns over accuracy and reliability.
- A positive outlook for agentic AI: Despite current limitations and concerns, 46% still believe AI will positively impact their jobs over the next five years, with only 13% anticipating negative effects. The remaining respondents were neutral toward or unsure about AI's impact.
- Clear paths to improvement: Workers identified enhanced accuracy and reliability (42%) as the top priority for improvement for agentic AI tools, followed by better training on how to use these tools (39%) and increased transparency in AI decision-making processes (33%). These insights provide a clear roadmap for technology providers and organizations implementing AI solutions.
Ultimately, the survey revealed that most workers are open to using agentic AI and believe in the potential for it to improve their work experiences. However, as organizations incorporate more agentic AI into their daily workflows, organizations will need to put in work to achieve mass adoption. AI agents work best when they are orchestrated – designing, automating, and optimizing workflows and customer journeys alongside humans to achieve maximum results. With this holistic approach to agentic AI, combined with education opportunities and better transparency on how AI makes decisions, employees will be keener to adopt the technology to achieve maximum productivity and results.
For more on what Pega is doing in the agentic AI space, visit https://www.pega.com/agentic-ai.
Methodology:
Pega partnered with YouGov to survey more than 2,100 US and UK working adults who use digital devices for their jobs. It defined "AI agents" as software programs or tools powered by artificial intelligence that can assist with various tasks, such as generating content, analyzing data, automating repetitive processes, or providing recommendations. Examples included chatbots, virtual assistants, and AI-powered analytics tools.
Quotes & Commentary:
"Both organizational leaders and their employees recognize the significant benefits of agentic AI. However, this new research underscores that many still have reservations, and it's up to enterprise leaders to strategically and thoughtfully incorporate the technology to help ensure adoption," said Don Schuerman, CTO, Pega. "Organizations must meet employees where they are by integrating AI agents with actual workflows so they're not just doing any work, but doing the right work. This, combined with proper governance, transparency, and educational opportunities, will be vital for maximizing productivity, increasing comfort with the technology, and ultimately achieving widespread adoption for a true return on investment."
Supporting resources:
Blog post: Reimagining work with AI agents: Enabling a more collaborative workplace
Website: Agentic AI
About Pega
Pega is The Enterprise Transformation Company that helps organizations Build for Change® with enterprise AI decisioning and workflow automation. Many of the world's most influential businesses rely on our platform to solve their most pressing challenges, from personalizing engagement to automating service to streamlining operations. Since 1983, we've built our scalable and flexible architecture to help enterprises meet today's customer demands while continuously transforming for tomorrow. For more information on Pega (NASDAQ:PEGA), visit www.pega.com.
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Press Contact:
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Twitter: @pega