Agentic AI on the Rise: Enterprises Embrace AI Agents Amidst Risk and ROI Concerns

New Delhi, June 30, 2025: Nasscom, the premier industry association for the IT-BPM sector in India, has released a groundbreaking report titled “Enterprise Experiments with AI Agents – 2025 Global Trends.” This comprehensive study provides insights into how global enterprises are leveraging AI agents to transform their operations and workflows.

The report, which draws on responses from over 100 enterprises across 8-9 major regions and 10 industries, highlights a significant shift from passive AI analytics to active agentic systems. Key findings include:

• 88% of enterprises now have dedicated AI budgets**, with two-thirds allocating over 15% of their tech budgets specifically toward AI initiatives.
• 62% of global enterprises are experimenting with agentic AI**, focusing on task-level automation with human oversight.
• 88% of enterprises indicate intent to dedicate specific AI budgets toward agentic systems in 2025**.

Sangeeta Gupta, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Nasscom, emphasizes the importance of this transition: “We are at the tipping point of the AI maturity curve where enterprises are no longer just experimenting with AI, but actively reimagining their architecture, workflows, and teams to build agentic systems. AI agents represent the next evolution of enterprise AI, one that requires philosophical shifts in how we view work, intelligence, and autonomy. To scale responsibly, trust, data readiness, and human oversight will be non-negotiable.”

Despite growing optimism, the adoption of agentic AI remains cautious. **77% of enterprises are adopting agentic AI systems with a 'human-in-the-loop' design**, reflecting the need for constant oversight, adaptability, and contextual judgment. While **46% report experimenting with autonomous agents**, the majority of these experiments are internal, focusing on IT operations, customer service, and internal HR and finance functions.

Manufacturing enterprises are leading the charge in AI adoption, with **AI-powered robotics, quality control, and process agents showing strong traction**. The business case for Agentic AI appears strongest in real-time decision-making and operational agility, with more than half of the enterprises seeing these systems as critical enablers for translating information into intelligence and rapidly responding to shifting market dynamics.

However, the path forward is marked by both technical and structural headwinds. Data privacy, risks of self-learning systems, and the absence of cohesive regulatory frameworks continue to be cited as top adoption barriers. While most enterprises still rely on adapted legacy risk frameworks, only 43% have initiated focused AI risk protocols, including observability tools and hardware-level audits.

Interestingly, only 44% of companies expressed concern about the cultural and mindset shifts required to build effective human + AI systems or the perceived limitations in ROI from such deployments. Just 27% of global enterprises identified the lack of AI talent as a major constraint.

To succeed in the age of intelligent agents, enterprises must prioritize human-AI collaboration, ensure process adaptability, and embed trust at the core of their systems. This approach will be crucial for leading the next wave of AI innovation and transformation.