Why 40% agentic AI projects will be axed by 2027
What's the story
A recent report by research and advisory firm Gartner has predicted that over 40% of agentic artificial intelligence (AI) projects will be scrapped by the end of 2027. The main reasons for this are rising costs, lack of clear business value, and insufficient risk controls. The study surveyed over 3,400 organizations in January this year and found that only a small percentage have made significant investments in agentic AI.
Investment insights
Only 19% organizations have made significant investments
The Gartner survey found that 19% of organizations have made big investments in agentic AI, while 42% have made conservative ones. Around 8% of respondents said they haven't invested at all, and the remaining 31% are either waiting to see how things unfold or are unsure about their stance on this emerging technology.
Market manipulation
'Agent washing' trend in the market
The Gartner report also highlighted a trend known as "agent washing," where vendors are marketing their existing products like AI assistants, robotic process automation (RPA) tools, as well as chatbots as AI agents. The study estimates that only around 130 out of thousands of agentic AI vendors are actually legitimate.
Forecast
Gartner optimistic about agentic AI's future
Despite the initial challenges, the Gartner report is optimistic about the future of agentic AI. It predicts that by 2028, at least 15% of the day-to-day work decisions will be made autonomously through this technology. This is a huge jump from zero in 2024. The study also forecasts that by the same year, one-third of enterprise software applications will include agentic AI capabilities, up from less than 1% last year.