Trust and human-AI collaboration set to define the next era of agentic AI, unlocking $450 billion opportunity by 2028

• AI agents are poised to deliver up to $450 billion in economic value by 2028 through revenue gains and cost savings, yet the path to scale is currently elusive
• Confidence in fully autonomous AI agents dropped from 43% to 27% in the past year amidst privacy and ethical concerns
• However, AI agents are expected to be involved in most business tasks within three years, with effective human-agent collaboration projected to increase human engagement in high-value tasks by 65%

Agentic AI is one of the fastest-emerging technological trends, but organizations are still in the early stages of application. While nearly a quarter have already launched pilots and a small number have begun implementation (14%), the majority remain in planning mode. This steady progress stands in contrast to executive ambition – nearly all (93%) business leaders believe that scaling AI agents over the next 12 months will provide a competitive edge, yet nearly half of organizations still lack a strategy for implementing them.

“The economic potential of AI agents is significant but realizing this value depends on more than just the technology, it requires a comprehensive and strategic transformation across people, processes and systems,” said Franck Greverie, Chief Portfolio & Technology Officer, Head of Global Business Lines, and Group Executive Board Member at Capgemini. “To succeed, organizations must remain focused on outcomes, reimagining their processes with an AI-first mindset. Central to this transformation is the need to build trust in AI by ensuring it is developed responsibly, with ethics and safety baked in from the outset. It also means reshaping organizations to support effective human-AI chemistry, creating the right conditions for these systems to enhance human judgment and help deliver superior business outcomes.”

Organizations prioritize transparency as the agentic AI trust gap widens

Trust in fully autonomous AI agents has dropped sharply, from 43% to 27% in the past year alone, with nearly two in five executives believing that the risks of implementing AI agents outweigh the benefits. Only 40% of organizations say they trust AI agents to manage tasks and processes autonomously, while most do not fully trust the technology.

The report finds that as organizations move from exploration to implementation, trust in AI agents grows: for organizations in implementation phase, 47% have an above average level of trust, compared to 37% in exploratory phase. Therefore, organizations are prioritizing transparency, clarity around how AI agents make decisions, and ethical safeguards to drive greater adoption.

Human-AI chemistry is key to lasting adoption

The real promise of agentic AI lies in tackling core business challenges and reimagining how work gets done. Within the next 12 months, over 60% of organizations expect to form human-agent teams where AI agents function as subordinates or enhance human capabilities. This means that AI agents can no longer be considered tools, they are becoming active participants in the team.

70% of organizations believe AI agents will necessitate organizational restructuring, prompting leaders to rethink roles, team structures, and workflows. Enterprises are discovering AI agents deliver most value when humans remain in the loop. With effective human-AI collaboration, organizations expect a 65% increase in human engagement in high-value tasks, a 53% rise in creativity, and a 49% boost in employee satisfaction.

The time to scale is now

The $450 billion dollar opportunity for AI agents to deliver new economic value by 2028 includes both revenue uplift and cost savings, driven by the implementation of semi to fully autonomous AI agents. Scaled adoption is found to hold far greater potential, as organizations with scaled implementation are projected to generate approximately $382 million on average over the next three years, while others may realize around $76 million.

In the near term, AI agents are expected to see most extensive adoption in customer service, IT, and sales, expanding into operations, R&D, and marketing over the next three years. However, most deployments remain at early stages of autonomy with only 15% of all business processes operating at semi-autonomous to fully autonomous levels in a year. While this is expected to rise to 25% by 2028, most agents today function as assistants or copilots, supporting routine tasks rather than independently managing complex workflows.

AI-readiness remains a challenge

Today, most organizations are not equipped to scale agentic AI effectively cites the report. 80% lack mature AI infrastructure and fewer than one in five report high levels of data-readiness. Ethical concerns such as data privacy, algorithmic bias, and lack of explainability remain widespread, yet few organizations are taking decisive action. For example, privacy is the primary concern for over half of organizations (51%), yet only 34% are actively taking steps to mitigate it. Compounding this, only half of business leaders say they understand what AI agents are capable of, and even fewer can identify where these systems outperform traditional automation.

To harness the full potential of AI agents, organizations must move beyond the hype, recommends the report – working toward redesigning processes and reimagining business models, transforming organizational structure, and striking the right balance between agent autonomy and human involvement.

For more information and to download the full report, click here.

Report methodology

The Capgemini Research Institute conducted a global survey of 1,500 executives at organizations each with more than $1 billion in annual revenue across 14 countries. Organizations operate across 13 sectors and all have started to explore Agentic AI. The global survey took place in April 2025. Executives surveyed are at director level and above, and of these, 60% are from data and AI functions, while 40% are from diverse business functions.