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Judging by a slew of recent corporate announcements, your next \u201cco-worker\u201d might be an artificial intelligence agent \u2013 doing the work of an assistant, job scheduler, morning debriefer, learning coach and more.<\/p>\n
JPMorgan Chase<\/a>, the largest U.S. bank, describes a clear vision for a new world of omnipresent AI agents: \u201cEvery employee will have their own personalized AI assistant; every process is powered by AI agents, and every client experience has an AI concierge.\u201d<\/p>\n In brick-and-mortar retail,\u00a0Walmart is already implementing<\/a>\u00a0its vision around agents, which involves support of customers, in-store employees and other business areas, with supervisor agents assigning tasks to subagents much like managers oversee employees.<\/p>\n What these and many other large organizations realize is that agents don\u2019t just answer questions, like an AI-powered search engine or simple chatbot. They complete real work by planning tasks, taking actions and checking results to\u00a0achieve a goal<\/a>.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s a problem. Companies in industries ranging from finance and tech to logistics and legal are rapidly embracing the promise of AI agents. But the flesh-and-blood workers they\u2019re meant to assist \u2013 and sometimes replace \u2013\u00a0are struggling to adapt<\/a>, hurting morale and productivity in the process.<\/p>\n The result is a growing\u00a0climate of fear about AI job insecurity<\/a>. FOBO \u2013\u00a0fear of becoming obsolete<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 is now a thing. A recent survey by consultancy KPMG found that\u00a052% of workers<\/a>\u00a0report they are concerned that AI could eventually take their jobs. And some are fighting back. In another survey, nearly one-third said they are\u00a0actively sabotaging their company\u2019s AI strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n To make matters worse,\u00a0some of these AI agents are going rogue<\/a>, deleting data or executing other unintended actions.<\/p>\n My research<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0AI and agent capabilities<\/a>,\u00a0value and risk<\/a>, as well as emerging studies of the\u00a0cognitive implications<\/a>\u00a0of AI, the\u00a0future of work<\/a>\u00a0and the role of AI in\u00a0workplace inequality<\/a>, suggest two key lessons for anyone navigating this new AI agent reality:<\/p>\n First, learn how the agents you\u2019re working with operate, including what they do well, where they fall short and how to catch mistakes.<\/p>\n Second, lean into your fundamentally human strengths. These are things agents can\u2019t replicate. Doing so can also help you sustain your own health and well-being.<\/p>\n AI agents\u00a0began entering the workforce in 2025<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 mainly in tech, finance and customer service \u2013 as the next stage of the generative AI revolution. But in 2026, the AI-powered automators\u00a0are increasingly being deployed in other areas<\/a>, such as legal and compliance, supply chain management, research and development, healthcare services and retail.<\/p>\n One example is global transportation giant FedEx, which is planning an entire\u00a0AI agent workforce<\/a>\u00a0for its logistic network. The company plans to create \u201cmanager agents,\u201d \u201caudit agents\u201d and \u201cworker agents\u201d to create a trail of accountability for their actions, according to The Wall Street Journal.<\/p>\n The theme of agents working together is echoed by North American food service company\u00a0Gordon Food Service<\/a>, which is using cross-team agents to reshape its product sourcing strategy.<\/p>\n As companies rapidly adopt the latest AI systems, agents are taking on increasingly diverse roles in the workplace that\u00a0leverage their ability to do autonomous work<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all driven by economics, with\u00a088% of early corporate adopters<\/a>\u00a0reporting a return on investment on at least one use of an AI agent, according to a Google survey of senior business leaders.<\/p>\n Retail giant\u00a0Amazon says<\/a>\u00a0customers who engage with its Rufus AI agent while shopping are 60% more likely to make a purchase compared with those who don\u2019t get help from Rufus. Overall, Rufus is expected to generate over $10 billion in additional annual sales for Amazon, compared with a baseline without Rufus.<\/p>\n Anticipating gains from agents, global consultancy McKinsey\u00a0already has 25,000 agents<\/a>\u00a0doing various tasks. It plans to have as many AI agents as human workers by 2027.<\/p>\n And new model releases, such as\u00a0Anthropic\u2019s Mythos<\/a>, will expand what is possible and likely accelerate agent deployment.<\/p>\nRise of the AI agents<\/strong><\/h4>\n