Agentic AI systems account for 17% of total AI value this year. This is expected to increase to 29% by 2028, says management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in its 'The Widening AI Value Gap: Build for the Future 2025' report.

AI agents learn, reason and act autonomously to solve complex, multi-step problems.

“Agentic AI is reshaping workflows and redefining roles. Companies should view it as the next step in scaling AI, and not as the starting point,” says BCG MD, senior partner and co-author of the report Amanda Luther.

“Agents represent an opportunity but they are not simply plug-and-play. Companies need to redesign how work gets done, and address the impact of agents on existing processes, roles, and skills,” she recommends.

Globally, about 5% of companies are at the forefront of AI innovation and are systematically building AI capabilities across functions while consistently generating value. They plan to spend more than twice as much on AI compared with the roughly 60% of companies that are lagging in AI adoption this year.

Owing to this investment, the companies building AI capabilities expect twice the revenue increase and 40% greater cost reductions than laggards in the areas where they apply AI, the report says.

However, BCG finds that AI maturity has advanced across sectors, with software, telecommunications and payments and fintech companies leading the pack. Fashion and luxury, chemicals, and construction remain at the lower end of the AI maturity curve.

Additionally, across the 25 economic sectors the study surveyed, 70% of AI’s potential value is concentrated in core business functions, such as sales and marketing, manufacturing, supply chain, and pricing, with the big exception being IT, which has a 13% share of AI value.

“IT functions offer an ideal starting point for an AI journey, and provide lower risk and fewer constraints compared to other business areas while delivering substantial returns,” says BCG Cairo MD and partner Adham Abouzied.

Further, AI-powered agents are playing a key role in increasing the value-gap seen between companies that are systematically building AI capabilities and those that are slower to adopt AI.

The mature companies allocate 15% of their AI budgets to agents, with one-third of these firms using agents, compared with 12% of scalers and almost none of the laggards.

“AI is reshaping the business landscape far faster than previous technology waves. The companies that are capturing real value from AI are not only automating, but are reshaping and reinventing how their businesses work,” says BCG MD, senior partner, report co-author and leader of BCG's AI efforts Nicolas de Bellefonds.

Meanwhile, BCG recommends an AI-first operating model that is rooted in human-machine augmentation and collaboration to generate value and expand the advantage afforded by these systems.

The company advises that these strategies must be led from the top with an aggressive multiyear strategic AI ambition, and companies must reshape and invent their businesses with value-based prioritisation of AI initiatives and rigorous tracking of results.

It also advises that companies secure and enable the necessary talent by anticipating new needs, leveraging the supplier ecosystem, and tenaciously upskilling people.

The consulting firm also recommends that companies build a fit-for-purpose technology architecture and data foundation to realise the potential value and benefits of AI systems.