AI adoption is surging as seven in ten UK businesses fully integrate GenAI into their operations, with some even progressing to implement agentic AI for greater automation, efficiency, and impact.

This is according to findings in a new survey from PagerDuty Inc, based on the insights of 1,000 IT and business executives across the US, UK, and Australia, and Japan, revealing that more than half (51%) of companies are already leveraging AI agents.

In the UK, confidence in GenAI has skyrocketed, the survey found, with nearly three in four (73%) of British organisations fully integrating GenAI tools into their company. The majority (77%) also state confidence in IT getting the biggest benefits from AI integration.

The adoption of GenAI has surged, with McKinsey & Company reporting usage in at least one business function rising from 33% in 2023 to 71% by July 2024. Now, agentic AI adoption is poised to accelerate even faster while reshaping automation and decision-making across industries. Companies are no longer just experimenting.

The latest PagerDuty survey data shows that 94% of companies believe they will adopt agentic AI more quickly than GenAI, with 55% strongly agreeing that they will integrate it across their organisations at an accelerated pace.

As businesses look to automate complex workflows and drive efficiency, agentic AI is emerging as the next phase of AI-driven transformation, offering faster deployment and deeper operational impact.

The research also found that organisations that have already fully implemented GenAI are far more likely to have already deployed agentic AI (71%), compared to just one in five (19%) of companies that have yet to fully implement GenAI.

Companies are putting great expectations on AI deployment, however. Six in ten (62%) of companies expect more than 100% ROI from agentic AI, with an average expected return of 171% on their investment.

This is a staggering assumption considering the current ROI waiting game plaguing investors who have shelved out millions betting on AI’s potential. Still, organisations are just now seeing a return on their AI investment and implementation, and agentic AI’s applications may be more directly related to business operations and productivity than other GenAI uses.

GenAI, for instance, has already delivered strong financial results, with an average ROI of 152% – but this also shows the potentially inflated confidence organisations have in agentic AI.

When it comes to how agentic AI will affect business operations, organisations have high hopes. More than half (52%) expect agentic AI to automate or accelerate between 26% and 50% of their workloads, unlocking significant operational efficiencies.

As far as the future impact of AI, 44% of business leaders expect agentic Ai to have a greater overall impact than GenAI, while 40% believe the latter will prove more transformative, demonstrating companies are divided on whether agentic AI will cause an industry shift similar to GenAI.

While hopes may be high, business leaders have learned many lessons from GenAI adoption. Two in five (44%) of business leaders cite rushed AI adoption without proper planning as the biggest challenge, which is one of the mistakes leaders hope to avoid repeating from their GenAI deployment. Cost control (40%), improved employee training (37%), and stronger data infrastructure (37%) were also among the top priorities for AI strategy refinement.

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Organisations are also willing to spend big when it comes to AI implementation, with 75% of firms investing $1 million or more on AI initiatives. This reflects a commitment to long-term AI-driven transformation, showcasing ongoing interest in AI implementation leading to increasing budget allocations.

“Leaders need to provide tangible, quantifiable benefits from their AI deployments if they want to justify the investment,” said Eric Johnson, chief information officer at PagerDuty.

“PagerDuty’s latest survey data illustrates how strongly organisations believe agentic AI will help unlock real value from AI and automation, as 62% of survey respondents anticipate triple-digit ROI. Companies that successfully integrate agentic AI into their operations can expect increased efficiency gains by automating complexity and accelerating decision-making.”

Many organisations learned firsthand that insufficient training hindered GenAI adoption and are taking a different approach with agentic AI. Every company surveyed has various plans to implement agentic AI training, with 61% prioritising organisation-wide seminars or structured initiatives. Additionally, 56% of organisations will offer an external course to their employees, while 52% plan to host official office hours and formal internal mentorship programs to ensure employees can effectively integrate and leverage AI agents in their workflows.