Nine out of ten executives plan to increase artificial intelligence (AI) investments in the coming year, but adoption of agentic AI is, for many, coming without training resources for employees to make full use of the tools.
That full-speed adoption, which would continue for most even during a recession, is one theme of a new global survey of employees and C-suite leaders.
In Accenture’s latest Pulse of Change survey, two-thirds of leaders credit artificial intelligence (AI) with boosting resilience but feel their companies are no better prepared than at the beginning of the year.
Rising confidence in tools like AI paired with declining organisational readiness reveals a “resilience illusion”, the survey found.
Similar to Accenture’s findings from late last year, the main drivers for organisations looking to investments were capitalising on advancements in technology (20%), greater confidence in managing risks (19%), and maintaining or strengthening competitiveness (17%) — ahead of upskilling employees (14%).
But executives lack a clear vision for AI collaboration. Ninety per cent of leaders said the pace of change has accelerated since January, with 84% expecting this pace to increase further, the survey found. However, fewer leaders feel prepared for the wave of changes coming than in January; only 42% feel prepared to tackle disruption, down from 46% earlier this year.
Moreover, confidence in using AI to promote revenue growth has fallen and confidence in their organisation’s ability to cut costs has declined since last year, as transformation initiatives continue to outpace capacity, the survey said. Eighty-six per cent of leaders asserted that they are preparing their workforce for agentic AI integration, yet 75% admitted that the pace of change is outpacing training capabilities.
Additionally, 42% of employees said they regularly work with AI agents and actively engage with transformation, and 33% believe AI changes are outpacing their training. Accenture’s data captured the views of 6,000 employees across 22 industries and 18 countries in May and June.
Thirty-eight per cent of leaders believe AI is changing roles significantly, and 22% of employees agreed with that sentiment.
Despite the training hurdles, enthusiasm continues to drive investment. The majority of executives (87%) agreed that AI agents are driving a new era of process transformation, 63% are already investing in AI agents, and 27% are in the process of integrating those agents across operational functions, the survey added.
The prospects of AI as a lifeline for businesses is overshadowed by significant gaps across workforce development. “As organisations double down on agentic AI, the winners will be those that pair bold innovation with thoughtful enablement,” the survey said. “Success requires recognising AI transformation as fundamentally a human challenge — ensuring workforce development, clear communication, and ethical leadership evolve at the same pace as technological capability.”
— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Steph Brown at Stephanie.Brown@aicpa-cima.com.