Agentic AI: The next wave of automation for middle market technology companies

Agentic artificial intelligence systems that autonomously plan, adapt and execute multistep tasks without human prompt inputs represent the next frontier in AI. For middle market technology companies, this evolution marks a significant shift from using AI as a chatbot tool to collaborating with it as a coworker.

Organizations need to gain literacy and competency on these new AI capabilities to leverage the power of AI effectively. This new understanding includes knowing how agentic AI differs from previous iterations of the technology, why this evolution matters, and what steps middle market technology leaders should consider to stay competitive.

Understanding agentic AI and what it can do

Agentic AI marks a fundamental shift in how software operates—from passive, tool-like systems to intelligent agents capable of autonomous action. Unlike previous generations of AI that required constant prompts or narrowly focused scripts, agentic AI can reason, remember and execute complex, multistep tasks independently. These AI agents are designed to plan, adapt and make decisions across workflows, often navigating application programming interfaces and digital interfaces without human intervention.

This evolution is poised to revolutionize operations by enabling always-on digital agents that reduce the need for human intervention in repetitive knowledge work, including customer support and product development. Agentic AI is not just a new tool; it’s a new paradigm for intelligent automation and is reshaping autonomous decision making.

Taking action

Agentic AI offers significant opportunities to middle market technology companies, even though agentic AI adoption is still relatively low in the middle market, according to the RSM Middle Market AI Survey 2025: U.S. and Canada.

However, adoption is expected to increase as advances in agentic AI show greater promise. Spending associated with AI agents and chatbots is expected to rise from approximately $1.14 billion in 2024 to $214 billion by 2032, according to Bloomberg Intelligence estimates, a compounded annual growth rate of 68%.

The potential of agentic AI offers middle market technology companies an opportunity in both revenue generation and internal cost savings. On the revenue side, agentic AI enables companies to reimagine their service offerings and monetization models. For example, the development of AI-powered SaaS (software as a service) add-ons or personalized content engines provides middle market technology companies the ability to expand product offerings and increase customer retention. In addition, AI agents can help streamline tasks in the software development lifecycle, an application continually improving as AI models update and evolve. These types of innovations previously lacked viability without major investments in expertise and capital.

Internally, the deployment of agentic AI can lead to significant operational improvements that reduce friction. This is especially relevant as technology companies grapple with tightening labor markets, rising capital costs and increasing complexity across regulatory, supply chain and operational domains.

Middle market technology companies must establish robust governance policies, failover mechanisms, testing environments and technology controls to effectively manage errors, bias and hallucinations that may arise from AI agents working autonomously. Strategic IT oversight is essential for successful implementation of these technologies.

As AI agents become more capable, the age of human-only enterprises will rapidly evolve, leading to an environment where technology business leaders will manage hybrid workforces of humans and intelligent agents. This necessitates a focus on workforce transformation and building trust in AI systems.