You know an emerging technology is getting real when Big Tech firms jump into the arena. That’s what is happening to AI agents — an intelligent system that can understand and respond to customer inquiries without human intervention. Their ability to automate tasks and ‘learn on the job’ means business teams are free to work on high-value tasks. Gartner predicts that by 2028, at least 15% of day-to-day work decisions will be made autonomously through agentic AI, up from 0% in 2024.
Microsoft said its customers can use Copilot Studio — an application that requires little knowledge of computer code — to create such AI agents for routine tasks. The company is using several AI models developed in-house and by OpenAI for the agents. The idea is that Copilot (Microsoft’s chatbot) is the user interface for AI. Salesforce has introduced AgentForce, its autonomous AI agent for the workplace. Even Oracle’s recent introduction of over 50 AI agents marks a significant leap forward in automating critical areas such as finance, HR, supply chain and customer service.
Chennai-based Freshworks has introduced an easy to use AI agent to improve the customer and employee experience. Freddy AI Agent can be deployed in minutes and mid-sized companies like Bchex, Porsche eBike, Hobbycraft, and Live Oak Bank are already realising the benefits of using this tool.
“AI agents are set to become ubiquitous in all areas of life, fundamentally transforming how businesses operate and connect with customers,” said Arun Kumar Parameswaran, managing director — Sales, Salesforce India.
“With the launch of Agentforce, we’re empowering businesses across industries to amplify employee productivity and drive customer success. Agentforce is what AI was meant to be,” he added.
According to Shailesh Singla, vice-president, Applications, Oracle India, the growing demand for efficiency and innovation in business processes has led to an increased interest in AI technology. “AI agents are rapidly becoming the industry’s buzzword because they bridge a crucial gap for businesses: they securely leverage internal company data to automate complex, real-time tasks,” he said, adding, AI agents — powered by generative AI and large language models (LLMs) — can communicate with people, solve intricate problems, and respond with role-based intelligence to make informed decisions.
Jaspreet Bindra, co-founder & CEO of AI & Beyond, said that in the past two years, generative AI has made a notable impact on workforce productivity, enhancing efficiency in tasks like document summarisation, email writing, and creative brainstorming. Tools like Microsoft Co Pilot, ChatGPT, and Claude support knowledge workers, particularly in sectors like legal, consulting, and finance.
“The next evolution is AI agents, autonomous apps capable of performing multiple workflow tasks such as booking flights or supporting customer service,” said Bindra.
“Major tech players like Microsoft, Google, Salesforce and ServiceNow are investing in agentic AI, recognising its potential to transform operations by combining services into a unified platform. This trend is also driving substantial investment in the startup world. Agentic AI holds promise for future growth and partnerships in the Indian tech and startup ecosystem as well,” he added.
“AI agents are generating a lot of excitement — and for good reason. As they advance, they’ll be able to collaborate to handle more complex tasks, reducing the need for users to invest heavily in prompt engineering,” said Sharryn Napier, vice-president, Asia Pacific at GitHub.
“For developers, the value of AI agents is clear: they free up time to focus on higher-impact work. At GitHub, we’re eager to see the benefits of AI agents, agentic AI, and multi-agent systems play out for software developers. With tools like Copilot Workspace and code-scanning autofix, developers can build faster, more secure software — and that’s just the beginning,” she added.
According to Singla, AI agents go beyond simple question-and-answer interactions to complete entire workflows, significantly enhancing decision-making and allowing organisations to focus on high-impact objectives.
“In the Indian market, the potential for AI agents is substantial, particularly in sectors such as healthcare, manufacturing, BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance), and retail. These industries stand to gain immensely by using AI agents to streamline complex workflows and redirect human resources toward more strategic initiatives,” he said.
Parameswaran added: “Looking ahead, we see immense potential for AI agents to redefine customer experience across enterprises. We believe that agents are the future of AI — and we’re excited to bring them to our 150,000 customers around the world — including our customers in India.”
