What Company Leaders Need To Know About Integrating AI Agents Into Their Workflows

Forbes

6 days ago

Brando Murphy, Founder of Bigger Than Race
We're standing at the edge of a transformative shift in business, one that will deeply affect how companies operate and how people work. I'm talking about AI agents: digital entities that can perform tasks and make decisions on their own.
But to fully benefit from AI agents, company leaders need to do more than throw money at trendy tools. They need a clear strategy. Most importantly, they need to ask: What are we really trying to achieve with this technology?
Why AI Agents Matter
AI agents can take on the types of repetitive, time-consuming tasks that clog up workflows: scheduling meetings, sorting data, managing email threads and more. The result? People are freed up to focus on work that actually requires human creativity and judgment.
The real potential lies in empowering people, not replacing them. Implemented correctly, AI agents can increase productivity, improve decision-making and accelerate how teams learn and adapt.
As an example, in our cloud gaming protocol, we use AI agents that observe and learn from a user's gameplay style. They can act as a soundboard, provide recommendations and even mimic a player's style in real time. If you're a streamer, these agents can support monetization by helping automate gameplay or even create content while you're offline.
Don't Believe The Hype
As with all new technology, we need to be honest about how the industry really stands to benefit. We've seen waves of AI excitement and trends—from chatbots to generative text and video—but not all of them live up to expectations.
We're still in the early days of AI agents becoming truly autonomous. Companies like OpenAI are pushing the envelope, but we're not yet at the point where these agents can be fully trusted to manage high-stakes work like day trading or strategic planning. Trusting them too soon can be risky.
Cost is another barrier. Building a high-functioning AI agent isn't cheap: from $5,000 at the low end to upwards of $20,000 just to get something decent off the ground. That kind of investment needs to be justified with a clear purpose, not just a desire to seem cutting-edge.
And there's the real challenge. Too many companies are rushing to integrate AI into their workflows just to be seen as 'tech-forward,' without having defined what the agent will do. It's like buying a race car without knowing how to drive; it might look good in the garage, but how will you justify the expense?
Practical Advice For Leaders
If you're serious about integrating AI agents into your business, the first question to ask isn't 'Which platform should we use?' It's 'What problem are we solving?'
Are you trying to replace tasks that monopolize your team's time and energy? Or are you looking for a tool that can help you scale content, analyze customer behavior or streamline internal operations? Once you have the 'why,' then—and only then—should you start thinking about the 'how.' Whether you're in finance, crypto or tech, you need a clear framework first.
In our own development process, we created a video learning model (VLM) where the agent watches how users play games and then assists or even replicates their gameplay. But none of that would have been possible if we hadn't first asked what role this agent would play in our product.
There's a lot of understandable uncertainty around AI agents and, yes, even some fear. But I believe the future is bright for those who embrace these tools thoughtfully. AI agents won't just change how we work—they'll change how we think about work. If we bring them on board carefully, they can help us work faster and better.
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