AI agents

What the publications show

1. Agents are quickly being absorbed into work. Université de Bordeaux estimates that on 21 February 2026 between 22.20 and 28.66 per cent of 128,018 GitHub projects studied used coding agents, and Capgemini and Microsoft describe agents increasingly carrying out real steps in the work.

   Université de Bordeaux, 2026 (opens in a new window) · Capgemini Research Institute, 2026 (opens in a new window) · Microsoft WorkLab, 2026 (opens in a new window)

2. Deployment is running ahead of governance. Capgemini sees heavy use of agents and little mature governance in the car industry, and chief data officers in University of Manchester research name a steering committee and a fixed owner for each model as the first preconditions.

   Capgemini Research Institute, 2026 (opens in a new window) · University of Manchester, 2026 (opens in a new window) · Boston Consulting Group, 2026 (opens in a new window)

3. Sources are cautious about the returns. McKinsey reports that gains at the level of the individual employee are still barely translating into business results, and BCG sees the value mainly at companies that manage their agents as one coherent programme.

   McKinsey, 2026 (opens in a new window) · Boston Consulting Group, 2026 (opens in a new window)

4. Articles from WHU and Royal Holloway treat implementation as ongoing steering: how much autonomy an agent gets, and how direction from the top relates to employees’ own experiments. These are conceptual models without measurements of their own.

   WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, 2026 (opens in a new window) · Royal Holloway University of London, 2026 (opens in a new window)

5. Little has been measured about the employee working next to the agent. A conceptual model from SUNY Oneonta ties collaboration to role clarity and the perceived threat to one’s own competence; The Pragmatic Engineer sees engineers spending more time directing agents.

   SUNY Oneonta, 2026 (opens in a new window) · The Pragmatic Engineer, 2026 (opens in a new window)

Topics within AI agents

This list shows what the publications on this theme are about, with the number for each topic. Open a topic to see its publications; if a topic has a briefing, the link is underneath.

• Governance and ownership4 publications

  • 68% of automotive organizations use or pilot agentic AI for product development, but only 5% report mature AI governance (Rewiring automotive product development) · Capgemini Research Institute, 2026
  • The Formula for Agentic AI Value · Boston Consulting Group, 2026
  • Artificial Intelligence Governance Mechanisms—The Chief Data Officer Perspective with a Focus on Agentic AI Governance · University of Manchester, 2026
  • AI Agents at Work 2026 · Okta, 2026
  Briefing: Who is the agent's boss? Ownership, mandate and control of AI agents →
• Value and returns4 publications

  • The Formula for Agentic AI Value · Boston Consulting Group, 2026
  • The state of AI in 2026: On the road to ROI · McKinsey, 2026
  • Realizing Agentic AI Value:A Systems Approach to Autonomy and Risk · Royal Holloway University of London, 2026
  • Gartner Predicts Over 40% of Agentic AI Projects Will Be Canceled by End of 2027 · Gartner, 2025
  Briefing: Agent-washing and the cost and value of agent projects →
• Implementation and change2 publications

  • Managing Grassroots and Boardrooms: Change Strategies for Navigating Agentic AI in Organizations · WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, 2026
  • Realizing Agentic AI Value:A Systems Approach to Autonomy and Risk · Royal Holloway University of London, 2026
• Coding agents2 publications

  • Agentic Much? Adoption of Coding Agents on GitHub · Université de Bordeaux, 2026
  • The impact of AI on software engineers in 2026: key trends. Part 1 · The Pragmatic Engineer, 2026
• Working with agents3 publications

  • AI Agents as Virtual Coworkers: Factors Influencing Collaboration Intention in the Workplace · SUNY Oneonta, 2026
  • 2026 Work Trend Index Annual Report: Agents, human agency, and the opportunity for every organization · Microsoft WorkLab, 2026
  • The impact of AI on software engineers in 2026: key trends. Part 1 · The Pragmatic Engineer, 2026

Briefings on this theme

Where several organisations publish roughly the same thing on a topic, we have used AI to compile a briefing. Click a card for the key point, the figures with their sources and what it means for the leadership team.

Briefings on other themes that touch on this one

These briefings belong to another theme but also cover AI agents.