Study Finds 84% Of IT Leaders Trust AI Agents As Much As Humans

SnapLogic has unveiled a new report, “AI Agents: The Final Frontier of the Enterprise,” which examines how IT leaders are preparing for AI agent adoption.

Based on responses from over 1,000 IT decision-makers across the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia, the report highlights how businesses are embracing AI agents to optimize operations and improve productivity.

AI agents, which operate autonomously and perform complex tasks, are becoming an integral part of enterprise workflows.

This report follows OpenAI’s introduction of Operator, an AI agent for autonomous tasks, and Google’s launch of free Gemini Code Assist for developers.

“GenAI technology is continuing to evolve rapidly. The ability to enable the creation of AI agents capable of operating autonomously, reasoning, and performing specific actions to complete an objective is a critical milestone in GenAI’s ability to deliver meaningful business value,” the report notes.

According to the findings, IT leaders are increasingly placing trust in AI agents to handle essential business tasks. A significant 84% of respondents trust AI agents at least as much as humans, with 40% expressing greater confidence in AI agents than in human workers.

This growing trust is driven by AI’s potential to enhance efficiency, as IT teams currently spend an average of 16 hours per week managing AI technologies. Respondents anticipate AI agents will help reclaim 19 hours weekly, freeing up valuable time for more strategic work.

Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski, who has been outspoken about the transformative impact of AI on business, particularly in automating tasks traditionally handled by humans, mirrors this trend. Klarna’s use of AI has saved $10 million annually, with AI replacing 700 customer service agents and performing tasks faster than humans.

Additionally, a recent poll revealed that over half of UK business leaders plan to invest in AI over hiring new staff, driven by rising employment costs and labor reforms.

The enthusiasm for AI agent adoption is evident, with 79% of IT leaders prioritizing their implementation within the next year. Furthermore, 92% believe these systems will deliver meaningful business outcomes in the next 12 to 18 months.

Investment in AI is also accelerating, as nearly 80% of organizations plan to allocate over $1 million to AI agents in the coming year.

Despite high interest, barriers remain. Concerns over data security, outdated technology, and integration challenges persist, with 60% citing privacy risks as a major obstacle.

Indeed, the NIST explains how AI agents are vulnerable to hijacking attacks, where malicious instructions inserted into data cause agents to perform harmful tasks. This risk stems from the lack of separation between trusted internal instructions and external data.

Key cybersecurity threats include remote code execution, database exfiltration, and automated phishing. These attacks exploit AI agents’ reliance on external data, potentially leading to unauthorized actions such as executing harmful scripts, stealing user data, or spreading malware.

Additionally, the report cites that employee skepticism and fears of AI hallucinations contribute to hesitancy in adoption. Nonetheless, as AI agents continue to evolve, organizations are eager to leverage their capabilities to drive transformation across industries.

Meanwhile, the University of Cambridge recently warned of a potentially dystopian future where AI assistants could predict and sell user intentions in real-time. This “Intention Economy,” driven by AI, could use intimate psychological data to influence decisions on a large scale, including actions as personal as voting or purchasing choices.

Researchers argue that this technology could manipulate human behavior for commercial, political, or corporate gain, raising serious concerns about its ethical implications.

Leading tech companies, such as OpenAI and Apple, are already investing in AI systems that forecast human intentions, which may further fuel this emerging market.