AI automation is the biggest change IT teams will ever experience – here’s why

If AI is redefining how we defend, detect and respond to threats across our organizations, then agentic AI is surely the next game changer.

For me, the adoption of agentic AI is the biggest shift we’ll see in enterprise IT for a generation because it fundamentally changes how teams manage time, risk and strategy. What’s more, I’m not alone in my prediction. 

According to the UiPath 2025 Agentic AI Research Report, 93% of IT leaders surveyed said they’re extremely or very interested in applying agentic AI, with almost four in ten already doing so. The reason is simple.

Unlike traditional automation, agentic AI doesn’t just follow rules. It makes decisions, adapts in real time and learns as it goes. It’s a marriage of intelligent IT automation and robust security, something that gives IT teams the confidence to operate more swiftly without increasing risk.

But confidence only comes with trust. And while many organizations aspire to using agentic AI, there’s a real question around readiness.

Even when it comes to implementing basic forms of automation, too often users attempt to automate processes without reliable, real-time data, leading to poor decisions by the automation and slow adoption from users.

From what I’ve seen, a significant number of organizations still operate within a traditional automation mindset – one built on static rules, scripts and predictable workflows. It’s an approach that has served IT management teams well, offering control and predictability.

But agentic AI flips that model, enabling systems to act independently, learn from their environment and evolve over time.

That shift from control to collaboration can feel unfamiliar, even uncomfortable and yet, if they can make that step change, the benefits are transformational, especially in terms of cybersecurity and IT systems management. 

Boosting the employee experience

Take IT help desks, for example. In many organizations, they’re often overwhelmed with a backlog of support tickets made up of routine issues that frustrate users and divert teams from doing more important work.

An AI agent, on the other hand, can monitor user behavior and endpoint signals to detect when something’s not working properly and fix it before the user even knows.

They can also handle routine tasks like password resets and access requests, reducing the time help desks spend on repetitive, mundane issues, freeing IT teams to focus on more strategic work instead of constant firefighting.

This is an important feature because when it comes to cybersecurity, speed matters. The longer a threat goes undetected or unresolved, the greater the risk. Agentic AI changes the response curve entirely.

Instead of waiting for someone to investigate an alert, an AI agent can triage it instantly, correlate it with historical data and take immediate action, whether that’s isolating a device or terminating a process.

And because it’s acting on live, trusted endpoint data, teams can have confidence in the outcomes. If need be, it can also decide to escalate the issue to a “someone” rather than outsource it to a “something”. 

Optimizing resource management

In other words, employing agentic AI leads to much more efficient management of scarce resources. As we know, IT teams have always had to juggle capacity, budgets and performance.

While getting people to do these tasks may work, it is often slow and reactive. Agentic AI, on the other hand, changes this by enabling systems that continuously assess and adapt.

For instance, an agent could monitor compute usage across a hybrid infrastructure and automatically rebalance workloads to reduce latency or cut cloud service costs.

It might recommend retiring idle assets, scaling down unnecessary licenses, or reassigning hardware. All of these actions can significantly lower operational expenditure and free up budget for innovation.

AI is able to automate this traditionally labor-intensive process by enforcing policies, monitoring systems and generating audit-ready records in real time.

Intelligent systems can track whether devices stay compliant, fix any issues on the spot, and log every action so you’re always audit-ready. 

This is especially powerful in highly regulated sectors like healthcare and financial services, where standards require immediate responses and full traceability.

Intelligent systems demand intelligent strategy

In light of what’s happening today – and is coming down the road – what are we to make of Agentic AI? A report by PwC – Agentic AI – the new frontier in GenAI – appears to be in no doubt. 

“In the fast lane of technological evolution, missing the AI turn today means being outpaced tomorrow. Agentic AI offers significant advantages in efficiency, decision-making, and customer interaction.

By automating routine tasks and providing intelligent insights, agentic AI can help organizations save time, reduce cost, and improve overall productivity. Moreover, organizations who adopt an agentic AI system can gain a competitive advantage by leveraging its capabilities to innovate and enhance their business operations.”

And in the context of cybersecurity, this is vital. Because if there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s that security leaders don’t need more alerts, warnings and flashing lights on their dashboards. Instead, they need help making decisions more quickly and with greater confidence.

Agentic AI takes the pressure off, keeps operations running smoothly and frees up teams to focus on delivering higher-value, more strategic outcomes like accelerating innovation, improving service quality or driving business growth. It’s not just a game changer. It’s a no-brainer.

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