2.2 From answering questions to making decisions and taking action: AI agents Think of the evolution of AI use as a spectrum. AI- powered assistants are tools that answer questions and make recommendations when prompted to do so – a chatbot, for example. They respond to rule- based directions within a set of pre-defined tasks. What’s emerging now are autonomous “agents” and “agentic” teams that can take initiative after an initial prompt or directive. They can interact with the environment and with other systems, applying reasoning to identify the best solution among a host of alternatives and following through to achieve specific objectives. AI agents can strategize, develop workflows and execute (Figure 7). According to Gartner, by 2028, one-third of interactions with genAI will use autonomous agents.23 For consumers, agentic abilities inform personalized algorithms that can anticipate an individual’s needs, sort through preferences, determine the best option and place orders, freeing up valuable mind space and time. A recent Salesforce publication offered a practical analogy: “If a chatbot is akin to a vending machine, an AI agent is like a personal chef with an impressive repertoire of recipes (vast knowledge base), an ability to understand complex dish requests (natural language processing) and the ability to create new meals that adapt to your preferences (ability to learn from historical data).”24 AI agent progression FIGURE 7 Autonomously take decisions and execute digitally and physically (robots) Possess specialized training and skills in narrow problem classes Interact with other agents within and outside the organizations Act proactively and autonomously Can be spun up, changed and decommissioned dynamically without need for specialized engineersThey not only... But also... Converse React on an outside prompt Have a static lifeDerive from a universal model Interact with humans Source: Accenture. Transforming Consumer Industries in the Age of AI 14

Transforming Consumer Industries in the Age of AI 2025