What is Agentic AI and Why it matters for UK Businesses

In the ever-evolving world of artificial intelligence (AI), one term is rapidly gaining traction: Agentic AI. If you're running a business or providing software solutions, it's time to sit up and take notice.  Analysts from Gartner, McKinsey, Forrester, and other leading organisations are hailing Agentic AI as the number one tech trend for 2025. But what exactly is it, and why is it so important?

Let’s break it down and explore how it could shape the future of your business.

What is Agentic AI?

At its core, Agentic AI refers to AI systems that can take independent actions, much like a human assistant who’s not waiting for instructions but proactively getting things done. These systems don’t just respond to inputs; they think, decide, and act on their own (albeit based on the instructions given to them). Think of it as the difference between a chatbot that sticks to a script and an intelligent AI assistant powered by ChatGPT or an advanced Large Language Model (LLM) that can reason, adapt, and make nuanced decisions.

This contrasts with Guided AI, which operates within predefined workflows or rules. Guided AI is great for predictable tasks, but it’s not designed to handle dynamic, complex scenarios where autonomy might be required.

Why is Agentic AI Important for UK Businesses?

The world of business is moving faster than ever, and decision-making often needs to happen in real time. Here’s why Agentic AI can be a game-changer:

1. Speed and Efficiency: According to Gartner, by 2028, 15% of daily work decisions will be made by Agentic AI, a massive leap from today. Imagine how much faster your business could operate if routine and complex decisions didn’t require human intervention every time?
2. Scalability: As McKinsey points out, Agentic AI is set to become as ubiquitous as chatbots are today. The difference? AI agents using 'agentic' AI can handle intricate tasks at scale, supporting professional workers and freeing up your team for strategic work.
3. Staying  Competitive: Forrester predicts AI Agents will top the list of emerging tech trends in 2025. Businesses that adopt them early will have a clear edge, especially in industries like retail, finance, professional services and logistics.
4. Fast Adoption Rates: Capgemini reports that 82% of companies plan to adopt AI agents within the next 1-3 years. In a competitive market like the UK, keeping pace with innovation is crucial.

When Does Agentic AI Make Sense?

Not every business task requires a super-intelligent, autonomous AI agent. The key is identifying when you need Agentic AI and when Guided or Scripted AI will do the trick.

Ideal Use Cases for Agentic AI

Following a set of rules or instructions the AI Agent makes autonomous decisions based on predefined guidelines to carry out work tasks which help it's end-users to be more efficient - completing mundane tasks, answering questions and managing workloads at scale:

• Customer  Support: For example consider a pro-active Conversational AI system that doesn’t just answer a customers' question but identifies issues and resolves them proactively, improving customer satisfaction.
• Supply Chain Management and Logistics: Agentic AI can help to predict disruptions and optimise delivery routes or inventory management without human oversight.
• Research and Development: Multi-agent systems can simulate complex scenarios, saving time and money in testing and innovation.

When Guided AI is Enough

• Handling predictable, rule-based tasks like FAQs, appointment bookings, or simple transactions. In these cases, where a customer interaction follows a pre-determined path or process a scripted chatbot or rule-based AI Agent will likely handle the process quicker and more cost effectively.

Choosing the Right AI Platform

The good news? You don't need to choose between Agentic and Guided AI, the best AI platforms, offer both capabilities.

Here’s what to look for:

1. Flexibility:  Ensure the platform can offer both autonomous (AI and Agentic Agents) and guided (Scripted) Agents depending on the task and your business environment.
2. Advanced Language Understanding: Robust natural language processing (NLP) capabilities are essential. The platform must accurately interpret what’s being asked in order to deliver the right response or action.
3. Intelligence - For advanced use cases your Agent will need to exhibit enhanced autonomy, decision-making capabilities, and adaptability, allowing it to pursue complex goals and execute workflows independently.
4. Interoperability - Choose a solution that grows with your business, whether it’s ingesting documents or web pages, integrating to your business applications and databases, or connecting to your teams and departments.
5. Reducing complexity -
   1. Understanding the skills     you have internally to manage the platform and choosing one that offers     No-code configuration for much of the day-to-day changes and Low-code for     more complex changes will ensure you aren’t outsourcing everything and     keep costs under control.
6. Scalability: Choose a solution that grows with your business, whether it’s handling more customers, analysing larger datasets, automating additional processes or adding more AI Agents. 

Final Thoughts

Agentic AI is a broad term, being used to describe both simple and more complex autonomous processes. The industry is still grappling with the best way to describe it and also to work out the best use cases. Whether you’re running a mid-size business in the UK or managing a Global Enterprise, understanding and leveraging both Agentic AI and non-Agentic or scripted AI will help you to innovate, add scale to your business and stay ahead in a competitive landscape.

Remember, making the choice between Agentic and Guided AI isn’t about which is better, it’s about identifying what fits your business needs and finding solution providers who are invested in your success. With the right AI platform, you can enjoy the best of both worlds and ensure your business is ready to thrive in an AI-driven future.

To discuss the right approach for your business please get in touch or give our team a call on 0333 6000 360

‍