The Digital Workforce Is Here: Are You Ready to Lead It

Audio also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

In this article we discuss:

• From Theory to Reality: The Rapid Rise of AI Agents
• A New Era of 'Agent Bosses'
• Governing the Digital Workforce
• Leading the AI Charge
  

The landscape of work is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, driven by the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence. As AI agents increasingly integrate into our daily operations, one truth becomes abundantly clear: profound change is not just on the horizon-it's already here.

"We're rewriting every business process," Steve Chase, vice chair of AI and digital innovation at KPMG U.S., said in a Future of Work podcast recorded at the Illuminate Live event in Chicago. "We're going to be moving into a phase where we're rewriting every business process and organization over the next three to five years. I firmly believe that.

"The pace of this change-and the opportunity with it-is so large, that's how we're trying to prepare organizations."

Chase joined Workday Chief Technology Officer Joe Wilson and Shane Luke, Workday's vice president of AI and machine learning, to discuss the expanding role of AI agents in the enterprise-and how they're already changing the future of work.

"We're going to be moving into a phase where we're rewriting every business process and organization over the next three to five years."

From Theory to Reality: The Rapid Rise of AI Agents

Just a year ago, the concept of AI agents was largely academic. Today, it's shifted from a theoretical discussion to a tangible reality in the enterprise.

Chase shared findings from a recent KPMG survey, revealing an explosive growth in agent deployment. In a single quarter, the percentage of companies with deployed agents tripled from 11% to 33%, with a whopping 90% of organizations moving past the experimentation phase and into formal proofs of concept.

This rapid adoption is driven by a fundamental shift in how AI is implemented. Rather than being a separate, complex tool, AI is now being integrated directly into enterprise platforms and the "flow of work," Chase said, adding that this feature helps make adoption intuitive and seamless.

This new approach is proving far more effective than traditional AI augmentation programs, which often struggled to materialize in a worker's day-to-day tasks. The ability to embed AI directly where work is done is the critical factor driving this transformative adoption.

A New Era of 'Agent Bosses'

The widespread adoption of AI agents means that business processes will undergo massive change. But it's about more than automation-it's a complete re-imagining of work.

As AI agents join the human workforce, a new dynamic emerges: The human worker will become an "agent boss." This new role will involve managing, training, and guiding a digital workforce. The panelists emphasized that this transformation requires empathy and a deliberate focus on preparing people for change, acknowledging that many workers' identities are deeply tied to their professional roles.

"You're going to need to train people to be an agent boss," Chase said.

The panelists also discussed the shift in skills required. Luke noted that engineers using AI code assistants are seeing an approximately 30% productivity gain. This doesn't replace the person, but it does mean a higher level of productivity will be expected. Instead of performing mundane or repetitive tasks, human workers will be able to focus on more strategic and complex work, such as system design and creative problem-solving.

This change is viewed not as a threat, but as a massive opportunity to achieve a greater sense of ownership and pride in one's work.

Governing the Digital Workforce

With agents operating in real-time and accessing sensitive enterprise data, the need for robust governance is extremely critical.

Luke introduced the concept of using an agent system of record as the solution. This system is designed to function similarly to a human resources platform, managing the entire lifecycle of an AI agent, from onboarding and performance measurement to data access and offboarding.

"If you have an employee trying to do something with your data that they shouldn't, they're operating in human time. They can only do so much," Luke said. "But if you turn a powerful AI system loose, it's operating literally billions of times faster than a human being can operate."

An agent system of record, he added, gives an IT team the ability to prevent unauthorized access and actions.

Chase underscored this point, noting that a flexible governance structure is not a speed bump, but a set of guardrails that enables organizations to move faster and mitigate the risk of "agent sprawl."

Leading the AI Charge

For leaders, the message was clear: We're in a moment of disruption, not just incremental change.

"Think big as leaders."

Chase urged leaders to move past "faster horses"-making existing processes marginally better-and to instead tackle the sea change that's around the corner.

"There needs to be some money set aside to tackle the 'innovator's dilemma' piece, which is we are in a moment of disruption, not transformation," he said, citing the 1997 book that profiles once-successful companies that failed because their leaders didn't understand when to abandon traditional business practices.

Luke noted that shifting the paradigm requires a higher risk tolerance and a willingness to identify and revolutionize processes limited by human constraints. Financial audits were one such process, where humans would traditionally rely on sampling. By contrast, AI agents could potentially examine every single record.

"Think big as leaders," Luke added. "You're not going to gamble your whole business on this, but there's no reward without risk."

A remarkable 82% of organizations are already using AI agents. But is your team ready? Read our latest report to learn how businesses are maximizing human potential with AI, featuring insights from nearly 3,000 global leaders.