The Rise of AI Agents

Reading time: 6 minutes

From Assistant to Agent

AI agents enable a shift from reactive assistance to autonomous task execution. Not just supportive, but actively working in the background — for example, voice assistants in call centers conducting conversations and taking notes, or agents drafting quotes and handling emails. But what does this mean for your organization?

What Is (and Isn’t) an AI Agent?

AI agents are digital assistants that independently complete tasks. You give them a command (“qualify incoming leads”), and the agent manages the steps to achieve that goal — including interim decisions and solving minor obstacles.

The big difference compared to classic automation flows? Those are pre-programmed: if X, then Y. An AI agent, on the other hand, can respond flexibly, like a smart junior team member. They combine pattern recognition and language understanding, but still lack something crucial: real-world comprehension.

Recent METR research shows that AI agents succeed in nearly 100% of simple tasks (under a few hours of human work). But for complex, long-term projects, their success rate drops below 10%. They’re brilliant at specific, structured tasks — but not yet ready to maintain strategic oversight or grasp complex cause-and-effect. As AI scientist Yann LeCun says: they know what is happening, but not why.

Still, this field is evolving rapidly: every seven months, the length of tasks agents complete with at least 50% success doubles. Experts expect that by 2025, we’ll see the first AI agents in the workforce that substantially boost company productivity.

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Concrete Time Savings: A Real-World Example

Take Volubus (bus rental), a client of Sailes. They deployed an AI agent that:

Automatically qualifies 85% of consumer inquiries, leaving staff to focus only on exceptions or final checks;
Saves 300 hours per month by eliminating manual work;
Reduces lead turnaround time from 53 hours to 17 minutes;
Processes 5× more leads per employee;
And does all this flawlessly, fully automated, within just one month of implementation.

This shows how offloading routine tasks can generate massive efficiency gains and free up employees for strategic work.

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What Does This Bring to Your Organization?

AI agents offer:

Time savings: hundreds of hours per month.
Efficiency & focus: employees concentrate on higher-value tasks.
Cost reduction: less manual work, lower operational costs.
Scalability: agents work 24/7, without extra staff.

Ethical Aspects and the Impact on Work

A common question around AI agents is: “Will they take over jobs?” The honest answer: partly, yes. Tasks that are repetitive, predictable, and easy to structure — like qualifying customer queries, generating simple reports, or sending standard emails — will increasingly be handled by agents.

But that doesn’t mean mass unemployment will follow. Instead, the demand for human involvement will shift to other areas: think creative work, empathetic customer contact, strategic decision-making, and managing and overseeing AI systems themselves.

New roles are also emerging, such as:

AI Agent Manager
AI Ethics Specialist
Prompt Engineer

As Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) says: “AI agents will change a company’s output, but they won’t take over the company.”

It’s crucial, however, that organizations approach this consciously: not only focusing on cost savings but also investing in retraining and supporting employees. That’s how you turn AI into an opportunity, not a threat.

What Does This Require from Your Organization?

To deploy agents successfully, you need to:

Redesign processes: not just layer AI onto existing workflows, but design new processes with clear boundaries.
Redefine roles: what stays with humans, what goes to agents? Consider roles like ‘Agent Manager’ to monitor processes.
Governance and ethics: who ensures fair operation, bias-free performance, and privacy? Think behavior specifications (‘system cards’) and compliance.

Hype or Reality?

AI agents are no passing hype. They bring real optimization and automation — provided you recognize their limitations. The key? Start small and prove the value in concrete pilots, for example:

time savings;
error reduction;
increased lead output.

Conclusion: Start Small, Think Big

AI agents are not futuristic dreams, but practical tools delivering real value: hundreds of hours saved, cost reductions, sharper focus, and greater impact. Organizations that invest in agent power today create not only efficiency — but also a strategic edge.

🔍 Curious how your organization can take steps here? Get in touch or read more on our website.