FEATURE term, but they will also hollow out the skills and institutional knowledge they need to compete.
Matt Waxman, Chief Product Officer at Precisely, explores the rapid developments of AI and how organisations can truly reap its benefits.
In the last year, AI has become as foundational to business operations as the internet. While 2025 saw a boom in GenAI use, the conversation has shifted fast and this year it’ s all about Agentic AI as organisations increasingly delegate decisionmaking to autonomous systems. But Agentic AI is only as effective as the data behind it. Without
Dr Rebecca Hinds, Head of the Work AI Institute at Glean
Success in the agentic era doesn’ t come from having the most sophisticated model. It comes from having data you can trust underneath it.
Dr Rebecca Hinds, Head of the Work AI Institute at Glean, draws on the nuances of AI and why these should be embraced rather than feared.
The debate over whether AI will replace jobs is still too binary. The most immediate change is happening inside jobs, as AI takes over individual tasks and changes how people learn, contribute and demonstrate their value. Nearly half( 48 %) of Australian digital workers fear AI could eliminate their role, while 58 % say it has already automated meaningful work they would have preferred to keep. data that is complete, accurate, contextual and fit for real-time decision-making, organisations won’ t just fail to unlock potential. They risk automating error at scale.
There’ s still no definitive playbook for the agentic era. There are only practices, built in real time by companies willing to experiment and learn rather than wait for best practices to emerge. But that drive to move fast becomes a liability if it isn’ t grounded in governance. Just under three-quarters( 71 %) of organisations with
Leaders should stop asking how many roles AI can remove and start asking how work should be redesigned.
But the human work has not disappeared. Employees are still supplying the context, checking the outputs, correcting mistakes and taking responsibility when AI gets something wrong. The real risk is not simply that AI replaces people, it’ s that organisations automate the parts of work through which people develop judgement, expertise and ownership, while leaving them with the clean-up. Leaders should stop asking how many roles AI can remove and start asking how work should be redesigned – what AI should do, what humans must continue to own and how the productivity gains will be reinvested in people. Companies that use AI only as a headcount lever may cut costs in the short
Matt Waxman, Chief Product Officer at Precisely
36
INTELLIGENT CIO APAC www. intelligentcio. com