The Evolution from Generative AI Tools to Autonomous Agents

Over the past few years, generative AI (gen AI) has captivated the world with its remarkable ability to generate content and extract insights across various mediums, including text, audio, images, and video. Foundation models, particularly large language models (LLMs), have demonstrated impressive capabilities. However, the trajectory of gen AI is now pointing towards a more transformative phase: the development of AI agents. These agents represent a significant evolution from the current generation of knowledge-based tools, such as chatbots that answer questions and generate content, to sophisticated systems that leverage foundational models to execute complex, multi-step workflows across the digital landscape. In essence, the technology is transitioning from a focus on "thought" to a drive towards "action."

This shift is not merely an incremental improvement; it signifies a fundamental change in how AI will be integrated into business operations and daily life. Gen AI-enabled agents are poised to function as virtual coworkers, capable of undertaking intricate tasks and collaborating seamlessly with human counterparts. This burgeoning field is already attracting substantial investment and attention from major technology corporations like Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI, as well as specialized research labs and companies such as Adept, crewAI, and Imbue. The rapid pace of development suggests that AI agents could soon become as ubiquitous as chatbots are today, ushering in a new era of productivity and innovation.

Unlocking Business Value Through Agentic Capabilities

The true value proposition of gen AI agents lies in their potential to automate a vast array of complex and open-ended use cases. These are typically characterized by highly variable inputs and outputs, making them historically difficult to address efficiently through traditional automation methods. Consider the simple act of planning a business trip: it can involve numerous variables, from flight itineraries and hotel rewards programs to restaurant reservations and off-hours activities, all managed across different online platforms. While partial automation efforts have existed, much of this process still relies on manual intervention due to its inherent complexity and the wide variation in potential outcomes.

Gen AI-enabled agents are set to revolutionize the automation of such complex scenarios in three key ways:

Managing Multiplicity: Many business processes follow linear workflows with clear steps and predictable outcomes, making them amenable to rule-based automation. However, these systems often exhibit "brittleness," failing when faced with situations not anticipated by their designers. Many real-world workflows are far less predictable, marked by unexpected turns and a range of possible outcomes. These require specialized handling and nuanced judgment that traditional rule-based systems struggle with. Gen AI agent systems, built upon foundation models, possess the inherent capability to handle a wide variety of less-likely situations for a given use case, adapting in real time to perform the specialized tasks required for successful completion.
Natural Language Direction: Traditionally, automating a use case required breaking it down into codifiable rules and steps, often involving costly and laborious software development by technical experts. Gen AI agent systems, however, utilize natural language as a primary form of instruction. This dramatically simplifies the encoding of complex workflows, making the process quicker and more accessible. Potentially, non-technical employees could direct these agents, easing the integration of subject matter expertise, broadening access to AI tools, and fostering better collaboration between technical and non-technical teams.
Integration with Existing Software Tools and Platforms: Beyond analyzing and generating knowledge, agent systems can actively use tools and communicate across a broader digital ecosystem. An agent can be directed to interact with software applications for plotting and charting, search the web for information, collect and compile human feedback, and even leverage additional foundation models. This digital tool usage is a defining characteristic of agents, enabling them to act in the world. Foundation models are crucial in allowing agents to learn how to interface with various tools, whether through natural language or other interfaces. Without them, integrating systems or collating outputs from different software would demand extensive manual effort.

The Operational Framework of Gen AI Agents

Gen AI agents are designed to support high-complexity use cases across various industries and business functions, particularly those involving time-consuming tasks or requiring specialized qualitative and quantitative analysis. They achieve this by recursively breaking down complex workflows into subtasks, executing them across specialized instructions and data sources to reach the desired goal. The process typically unfolds in four distinct steps:

User Provides Instruction: A user interacts with the AI system by issuing a natural-language prompt, much like instructing a trusted human employee. The system identifies the intended use case and may ask for additional clarification if needed.
Agent System Plans, Allocates, and Executes Work: The agent system processes the prompt into a structured workflow, breaking it down into tasks and subtasks. A manager sub-agent then assigns these subtasks to other specialized subagents. These subagents, equipped with the necessary domain knowledge and tools, draw upon prior "experiences" and codified domain expertise, coordinating with each other and utilizing organizational data and systems to execute their assignments.
Agent System Iteratively Improves Output: Throughout the execution process, the agent may request further input from the user to ensure accuracy and relevance. The process can conclude with the agent providing the final output to the user, incorporating any feedback shared.
Agent Executes Action: The agent performs any necessary actions in the digital or physical world to fully complete the user-requested task.

Illustrative Use Cases of Gen AI Agents

The potential applications of gen AI-enabled agents across industries are vast. Here are three hypothetical use cases that offer a glimpse into the near future:

Use Case 1: Loan Underwriting

Financial institutions typically prepare credit-risk memos to assess the risks associated with extending credit or loans. This process involves compiling, analyzing, and reviewing diverse information about the borrower, loan type, and other factors. The multiplicity of credit-risk scenarios and the required analyses often make this a time-consuming and collaborative effort, involving relationship managers, credit analysts, and credit managers. An agentic system, comprising multiple agents each with a specialized, task-based role, could be designed to handle a wide range of credit-risk scenarios. A human user would initiate the process with a natural-language work plan outlining specific rules, standards, and conditions. The agent team would then break down the work into executable subtasks. For instance, one agent could manage communications with the borrower, another could compile necessary documents, a financial analyst agent could examine cash flow statements and calculate ratios, and a critic agent could identify discrepancies and provide feedback. This iterative process of breakdown, analysis, refinement, and review would continue until the final credit memo is completed. Unlike simpler gen AI architectures, these agents can produce high-quality content, potentially reducing review cycle times by 20 to 60 percent. They can traverse multiple systems, make sense of data from disparate sources, and provide traceable outputs, allowing for rapid verification.

Use Case 2: Code Documentation and Modernization

AI agents hold significant potential to streamline the process of code documentation and modernization. A specialized agent could function as a legacy-software expert, analyzing old code, documenting various segments, and even translating them into modern languages. Concurrently, a quality assurance agent could critique this documentation and generate test cases, enabling the AI system to iteratively refine its output and ensure accuracy and adherence to organizational standards. The repeatable nature of this process can create a flywheel effect, where components of the agent framework are reused for other software migrations across the organization, substantially improving productivity and reducing development costs.

Use Case 3: Online Marketing Campaign Creation

Agents can serve as crucial connectors within the digital marketing ecosystem. A marketer could describe target users, initial campaign ideas, intended channels, and other parameters in natural language. An agent system, with assistance from marketing professionals, could then develop, test, and iterate on different campaign ideas. A digital marketing strategy agent could leverage online surveys, customer relationship management (CRM) analytics, and other market research platforms to gather insights and craft strategies using multimodal foundation models. Subsequently, agents for content marketing, copywriting, and design could build tailored content, which a human evaluator would review for brand alignment. These agents would collaborate to iterate and refine outputs, optimizing the campaign

Tag: McKinsey

AI Agents: The Next Frontier of Generative AI and the Dawn of Autonomous Action