Big Tech Bets Big on ‘Agentic AI’
The Trillion-Dollar Transformation
Silicon Valley is gearing up for what analysts call a “watershed moment” in artificial intelligence—marking a pivot toward “agentic AI,” a new generation of autonomous digital agents capable of performing complex tasks without human oversight. Unlike today’s generative AI that requires explicit inputs, agentic AI could execute multistep jobs by observing, reasoning, and taking initiative—much like a digital assistant on steroids. Industry analysts—including Needham’s Scott Berg—say this shift could define the next big growth cycle in enterprise software. Berg estimates this shift could unlock a $1 trillion opportunity over the next five to ten years, as businesses leverage AI agents not just to write emails or summarize documents, but also to trigger workflows, monitor systems, and optimize decisions autonomously.
Big Tech’s Next Moonshot
Major players like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Salesforce are already chasing the opportunity with fresh rounds of investment and product development. Microsoft is integrating Copilot into its cloud and workplace ecosystems, while Google is pushing forward with its Gemini assistant. Amazon recently rolled out more AI capabilities within AWS, focusing on automation and developer tools. Meanwhile, AI-native tools like Adept and startups like Inflection AI are building from the ground up with agentic capabilities, targeting knowledge work, data analytics, and digital operations. These smart agents are expected to be embedded deep into cloud platforms, potentially becoming as indispensable as the operating systems or databases they sit alongside.
