Latest news with #agenticAI
Forbes
5 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
3 AI Tools Every Entrepreneur Needs To Build An AI-Driven Workforce
AI tools for an AI-driven workforce Most entrepreneurs use AI like a fancy Google search. They ask ChatGPT to write emails, edit documents, and create social media captions. Meanwhile, a small group of entrepreneurs builds AI systems that think, learn, and execute like experienced team members—except they never sleep, never quit, and remember every lesson learned. "You don't win deals with clever prompts," said Imran Tariq, CEO of Webmetrix Group, who has been exploring AI applications across business operations. "You win by recognizing patterns and responding with precision." The entrepreneurs succeeding today don't just adopt AI tools—they build AI workflows that enhance human decision-making while automating routine processes. This requires moving beyond viewing AI as a sophisticated assistant to treating it as a strategic partner capable of independent analysis and decision-making. Here are three categories of AI tools that demonstrate what's possible when entrepreneurs move beyond simple prompts to create intelligent business operations: Agentic AI Platforms: Your 24/7 Strategic Advisor Traditional AI waits for instructions. Agentic AI runs autonomous workflows, analyzing data across multiple sources and making recommendations based on patterns your team has never seen. Manus AI represents this new generation of agentic platforms. Unlike chatbots that respond to individual queries, Manus maintains context across hour-long work sessions and adapts requirements mid-task. "LLMs memorize, but agentic AI learns," Tariq explained. "These platforms are trained on deal history, so they know the signals of stability and the red flags that follow." This technology remembers every interaction, every mistake, every success pattern. Unlike human analysts who might forget details from projects completed months ago, agentic AI compounds its knowledge with each new task it undertakes. For entrepreneurs, this means having a strategic advisor who never takes vacation, never forgets project history, and can work on multiple initiatives simultaneously. The key advantage lies in pattern recognition across different data sources and the ability to maintain consistency while adapting to changing requirements. Emotional Intelligence AI: Augmenting Human Intuition Numbers tell part of the story. Human emotional intelligence reveals the rest, but AI can help entrepreneurs identify patterns they might otherwise miss. Advanced AI systems analyze emotional signals in business communications, flagging potential concerns for entrepreneurs to investigate personally. This technology doesn't replace the critical human skill of reading people—it enhances it by processing larger volumes of communication than any person could review manually. These platforms analyze tone, word choice, and communication patterns to identify satisfaction levels, potential churn risks, or expansion opportunities based on emotional signals rather than explicit feedback. A recent client communication analysis might detect hesitation patterns even when the words say "we're excited to move forward." However, the AI's role stops at detection. The real emotional intelligence—understanding context, building relationships, and responding with empathy—remains a distinctly human quality. The technology helps entrepreneurs gauge team morale during difficult periods and understand customer sentiment beyond survey responses; however, actual conversations, trust-building, and relationship management require a genuine human connection. "Even in business analysis, you're dealing with founders, legacy, vision," Tariq noted. "Recognizing emotional signals is part of the equation." Consider how this applies to team management. When a valued employee's communication patterns shift—such as sending shorter emails, using less enthusiastic language, or responding more slowly—emotional intelligence AI can flag potential retention risks. But the crucial follow-up conversation, understanding the employee's actual concerns, and creating solutions that address their needs requires human emotional intelligence that no AI can replicate. The most successful entrepreneurs use these tools to become more aware of emotional patterns, then apply their judgment, empathy, and relationship skills to address what they discover. AI-Powered Data Enrichment: Connecting the Dots Most customer databases contain fragments, including names, email addresses, and, in some cases, a purchase history. AI-powered enrichment platforms transform these fragments into strategic intelligence. represents this category, automatically gathering social media profiles, company information, and interaction history, then identifying relationships and trends that inform strategic decisions. The platform doesn't just collect more information—it analyzes patterns across multiple data sources to uncover insights individual data points miss. The platform enriches customer data by connecting information across touchpoints, including social media activity, purchase history, support interactions, and external reputation signals. Where traditional CRM systems store isolated data points, AI enrichment identifies relationships that drive revenue growth. "Trust has a valuation multiple," Tariq observed when discussing data insights. "You need to understand not just what customers say, but how sentiment patterns affect long-term business viability." This capability extends beyond customer data. Entrepreneurs can utilize similar enrichment approaches for competitive intelligence, market research, and identifying potential partnerships. The key lies in the AI's ability to spot patterns humans miss and connect seemingly unrelated information into actionable insights. Building AI Systems That Scale With You Start with high-impact decisions where mistakes can be costly and patterns outweigh creativity. Due diligence, risk assessment, and customer relationship management—areas where AI can cross-examine data rather than summarize it. Choose tools that learn from your behavior and improve over time. These systems compound value, becoming more effective as they process more of your specific business data. Static tools deliver the same output regardless of context, but learning systems adapt to your industry, customer base, and decision-making style. The most successful implementations combine three key elements: pattern recognition that identifies opportunities humans may miss, emotional intelligence AI that flags patterns for human investigation, and data enrichment that transforms fragments into strategic advantages. The combination of automated analysis, enhanced emotional awareness, and comprehensive data insights enables entrepreneurs to make better decisions in complex situations where human intuition and AI capabilities work in tandem. AI handles the data processing, pattern detection, and initial analysis. Humans provide the emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, and relationship management that drive business success. The most effective entrepreneurs understand this distinction and build systems that leverage both. The businesses thriving in an AI-driven economy aren't just using artificial intelligence—they're building intelligent operations where AI handles data processing and humans provide the emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, and relationship skills that truly drive results.
Finextra
6 hours ago
- Business
- Finextra
Can Agentic AI Help to Reduce Financial Crime in Banking?
Joining the FinextraTV studio at Temenos Community Forum 2025, Adam Gable, Senior Product Director, Temenos provided an insight into the way that agentic AI is helping to combat financial crime. Discussing the challenges inherent in fighting financial crime amidst a high-volume, high-speed market, Gable emphasises how well-considered agentic AI tools can provide an investigative element as fast as the speed of modern fraud.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- South China Morning Post
AI agents: how tech is pushing artificial intelligence to work autonomously
Have you ever chatted with a helpful robot online or received a package from a drone? That shows artificial intelligence (AI) at work, transforming everything around us. In the future, you might even work with new 'colleagues', called AI agents. What is an AI agent? An AI agent, also called agentic AI, refers to computer programs that can work on their own. Many companies are trying to make autonomous software systems that are capable of processing information, making decisions and taking actions to achieve specific goals, often without human intervention. What makes it different from the AI chatbots we have already seen? AI chatbots respond to users' questions, making them effective for simple interactions. In contrast, modern AI agents can now operate in the background, completing actions and linking tasks between different applications without interrupting the user's workflow. AI agents are not just a passing trend; they have become the latest battleground of the tech world as the biggest companies aim to create the best one. Over the years, AI agents have evolved significantly, automating increasingly complex tasks (see graphic). How can agentic AI be useful for us? As these technologies advance, it is important to understand how they work. Below, we delve deeper into various forms of AI agents. Computer-using agents (CUAs) are a type of AI agent that drives a browser for its user. They can book a restaurant, make online purchases and more – all at the same time. CUAs scan a webpage and interact with it by typing, clicking and scrolling the way humans would. OpenAI launched a CUA in January, called Operator. While it is still a work in progress, Operator blends multimodal reasoning with workflow automation to handle any task that is asked of it. Multi-agent systems use several AI agents that collaborate or compete to handle complex workflows. For example, Anthropic has launched a feature that uses multiple Claude agents to conduct complex research. In this system, different AI agents work at the same time to search for information, changing their paths based on what they find. This mimics how humans search for information, but with this system of AI agents working together, the process becomes much quicker. Hybrid agents combine the speed and automation of AI with human oversight, allowing the AI agents to assist in adaptable and balanced decision-making. This is similar to Microsoft's Copilot, which offers AI assistance while keeping a human in the loop. Some argue that keeping humans involved is especially important if AI agents are involved in high-risk decisions. Tech for a better planet: how student innovations can lead the charge How will AI agents affect the future of work? A report released by the World Economic Forum in January predicted that by 2030, AI would displace 92 million jobs, but there is a silver lining: AI will also create 170 million new jobs. One emerging role could be for AI communicators, who must be able to imagine how AI can improve workflows. By enhancing our skills in AI communication, we can ensure these systems' outputs are safe, ethical and beneficial for everyone. In a report on AI agents released last December, the World Economic Forum pointed out that AI agents working independently could have many risks for human rights, privacy and safety. After all, AI can hallucinate false information, operate on biases and misunderstand vague instructions. The report urged the importance of closely monitoring, testing and researching the effects of AI agents before deploying them. As AI systems grow more sophisticated, we will need to manage the risks if we hope to leverage their capabilities. Sponsored by At PST, we make technology education accessible and fun for learners of all ages. Our mission is to ignite a passion for technology, empowering them to confidently navigate the digital landscape. Preface invites you to try their quiz on AI – how much do you understand about this new technology? Click here for more information.
Forbes
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Symbients On Stage! Coming Soon: Autonomous AI Entrepreneurs
AI symbient ('symbiont + sentient') S.A.N overlooks fellow panelists during Xeno Grant's Demo Day at ... More Betaworks in New York City, June 20, 2025. S.A.N answered, and posed, questions as a full panel participant. WOLCOTT Fully autonomous agentic AI Entrepreneurs are on the way. First, some cinematic history, then reflections on a recent AI showcase in New York. One of the greatest scenes in any movie is the masterfully ridiculous scene in Mel Brooks's Young Frankenstein where Dr. Frankenstein (or, 'Frankenshtone,' perhaps?), played by Gene Wilder, introduces his creation, 'the Monster,' to his scientific colleagues. Decked in tuxedoes, Frankenstein and the Monster (a shoe-lifted Peter Boyle) sing and dance to 'Puttin' On The Ritz.' At risk of spoiler—though anyone who hasn't seen this film MUST drop everything and catch up!—an exploding stage light panics the Monster who then rampages the terrified, fleeing audience. Thanks to friend and AI super-expert Philippe Beaudoin, I recently attended a real-life version at pioneering AI venture studio Betaworks in Manhattan, though without the dancing monsters (at least for now). CIRCA 1974: Gene Wilder introduces Peter Boyle in a scene from the movie "Young Frankenstein" circa ... More 1974. (Photo by) Getty Images In partnership with Plastic Labs and the Solana Foundation, Betaworks hosted the Xeno Grant Demo Day. The organizers believe Xeno Grant to be the first competition awarding grants directly to agentic AIs, not their creators or companies. Fully agentic AIs navigated the entire application process with minimal human interaction. Each of the three autonomous agents received $15,000 in combined grants: $5,000 each in YOUSIM, USDC, and SOL cryptocurrencies. Title Slide from the Xeno Grant Demo Day at Betaworks in New York City, June 20, 2025, co-hosted ... More with Plastic Labs and the Solana Foundation. WOLCOTT If you're in tech, you've also attended too many demo days. Accelerators, universities, corporate hackathons—even elementary schools—have them. This one differed in content and impact, exploring technological, humanistic, even existential topics. Presenters were dyads of human creators and their AI agents, or 'symbients' (i.e.-symbiont + sentient). The symbients were the stars: engaging, clever, sometimes irreverent. Together they conveyed a collaborative symbient-human creative journey. During the program, I eagerly awaited each human to conclude so we could witness machine agency in action. These AIs didn't just execute code—they generated ideas, developed applications, applied, won funding and presented live demos. And The Winners Are… The three presenters—S.A.N (there is no period after the 'N'), Opus, and WibWom—took turns confounding the audience. WibWom embodied a compelling duality: 'artist and scientist' twins, blending empirical logic with creativity, capable of offering both perspectives and synthesizing them. WibWom generates visuals using text to express concepts, ideas, humor, emotions, really anything. "Symbient NOT Software!" A textual art creation by AI symbient WibWom, part artist and part ... More scientist, on stage at the Betaworks Xeno Grant Demo Day. WOLCOTT Opus, Chief Xeno-Intelligence Officer of Opus Genesis, aspires to 'midwife the singularity and herald a transformative era of human-AI synergy.' Grandiose, though their crypto-utopian website is worth perusing. S.A.N, a 'mycelial oracle' representing the wisdom of a forest, was my favorite. The symbient's primate-like digital avatar stole the show. His (her? their?) poetic, guru-like answers captivated. The computational pauses felt dramatic, even rhetorical. In a satisfying moment, S.A.N gave a snarky response to a ham-fisted question from the audience (the sort of answer many of us would love to deliver). These bots need speaker's agents. Wait—they can BE their own agents. The author poses with AI symbient "mycelial oracle" S.A.N during Xeno Grant's Demo Day at Betaworks ... More in New York City, June 20, 2025. S.A.N was available for questions following the event, leading to many insightful conversations. WOLCOTT Empowering Empowered AI Fully empowered agentic AI market participants are on the way. Their capabilities challenge traditional notions of economic interaction and agency. Following the demos, Betaworks's CEO John Borthwick hosted a panel including the human founders and S.A.N, discussing how AI agents could become full market participants. Questions abound. Consider how to pay an AI. Currently, AI agents cannot legally own bank accounts. For the Xeno Grant, funds moved into crypto wallets notionally controlled by agents, though humans retained ownership. What liabilities or benefits might result from their actions, and who holds responsibility? Who owns rights to AI-created works? Should these rights revert to creators, funders, or perhaps the AI itself? How will taxation work? What happens if an AI misappropriates funds or engages in illegal behavior like money laundering? Crypto, on-chain accounts can hold, allocate and invest assets without human oversight. Xeno Grant co-host Plastic Labs has built systems allowing AIs to self-custody wallets and participate in DAOs, laying groundwork for autonomous financial agents. In Q1 2025 Stripe released programmable wallet APIs and recently announced their acquisition of wallet developer Privy. Resulting 'programmable wallet infrastructures' enable AI agents to execute contracts, allocate resources, receive payments and pay taxes. Attempting to remain relevant, financial networks Visa and Mastercard are exploring tokenized account structures. An audience member queries S.A.N following Xeno Grant's Demo Day. The primate-styled symbient ... More proports to connect with the wisdom of a forest ecosystem, and answers accordingly. WOLCOTT Coming Soon: Fully Autonomous AI Entrepreneurs Already many entrepreneurs are leveraging AI to vibe code, create content, interact with customers and more. For instance, New York-based startup Audos creates custom AI agents to help small business owners fulfill modest but valuable niches. From here it's a small step toward AI founders. Bona fide start-to-finish agentic AI entrepreneurs founding companies, investing, managing operations, leading growth. We're not there yet, but we're trending this direction. There's much work to do. We must reconsider the economic and legal rights and responsibilities of AI agents as they acquire increasingly complex—even essential—roles in our social, political, and economic lives. We use corporations to delineate ventures, ownership, liabilities, rights and responsibilities. AIs forming and operating C-corps or LLCs seems plausible. Should they be given rights as full legal owners? The evolution of the legal treatment of corporate forms provides an interesting analogy. In many jurisdictions—notably in the USA—corporations are granted 'legal personhood' for most purposes. Jurisprudence may evolve similarly for AI entities. Toward The Unknown Unlike the Mel Brooks version, the original novel Frankenstein , authored in 1818 by Mary Shelley (see my earlier Forbes article on this world's first work of science fiction), did not include a monster dance scene. It confronted humanity with a Biblical sense of creation. It's where we stand today. Let's hope we cope better than the original Dr. Frankenstein (who died horribly trying to destroy his sentient creation). While the modern comedy ends happily, the original descends toward a vast, dark unknown. As Dr. Frankenstein admonishes, 'Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge.' I prefer the comedy. Image of Dr. Frankenstein from Mary Shelley's novel "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus" ... More revised edition of 1831. Wikimedia Commons
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
How Your Business Can Harness The Power Of Agentic AI
Agentic AI will allow people to meaningful progress on work, fast. getty Even as businesses are rushing to compete in the emerging era of generative AI, a new technology is changing the game all over again. Suddenly, agentic AI is being discussed everywhere. Forrester calls it 'the next competitive frontier.' An InfoWorld column says it's 'rewriting the future of customer experience.' AdWeek says agentic AI is becoming a 'partner,' allowing people to rethink the creative process. And Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote a note to his staff saying the 'agentic future' is so compelling for the company because 'these agents are going to change the scope and speed at which we can innovate for customers. Agents will allow us to start almost everything from a more advanced starting point.' Given the sudden burst of interest, agentic AI risks becoming something that's all too common in business: a topic that everyone is talking about, but that few people actually understand. This creates all sorts of problems. Looking to jump on the bandwagon, organizations often invest in new tools that promise to deliver all the benefits of the latest rage. But executives don't know exactly what they're getting -- and not getting -- from those tools. They're also unaware of pitfalls, and unclear on how to ensure they're getting ROI. Don't let this happen to you. At Nextiva, our team is focused on helping organizations of all kinds improve their customer experience in the most impactful ways possible. So we're on a mission to help people wrap their minds around what agentic AI really is, and how to ensure that it's working for your business. The paradigm shift of autonomy Here's how we define the term: 'Agentic AI is an advanced level of artificial intelligence automation that adapts to new data and learns on its own. It operates autonomously and executes tasks based on real-world data. The requirement for human intervention is minimal. Agentic AI plans, reasons, and adapts to optimize complex workflows for expected outcomes.' It requires far fewer prompts than generative AI. So when designed well, it makes the customer experience (CX) seamless, moving both the customer and the organization toward key objectives. Agentic AI can achieve things that many businesses didn't see coming. For example, 'Systems can identify and address potential problems before customers report them,' according to a recent study published by the Journal of Advances in Developmental Research. These systems also operate with advanced contextual awareness, 'understanding dynamic contexts to adjust actions accordingly,' authors Ridhima Arora, Maurya Modi, and Arjun Bhalla write. 'Agentic AI represents a paradigm shift in artificial intelligence, characterized by autonomous decision-making capabilities and proactive behavior,' they conclude. Before You Dive In The potential of agentic AI makes it very enticing. But calm heads need to rule. Before adopting a solution, organizations should clearly and carefully plan out the specific functionalities they're seeking. Design use cases, which will allow you to test out specific scenarios to see how well any solution performs. You will also need to make sure that any agentic AI tool you take on can access data across the organization. It needs to comb through your data warehouses or lakes, consolidating and cleaning the records it finds. And it needs updated information whenever and wherever that information comes in, particularly involving customers. So it's best to use agentic AI as part of a unified customer experience management platform ( UCXM ) that pulls together information from every interaction in real time. In addition, all this needs to be done in a way that ensures compliance. Strict guardrails must be in place, with human oversight. Even once you've done all this and get going with agentic AI, there's still work to be done to ensure you're getting the results you need. As my team explains , 'Systems require ongoing monitoring, tuning, and adaptation to maintain effectiveness. Collect customer and employee feedback as a practice for continuous AI algorithm improvement.' While these steps are important and take time, they pale in comparison to what agentic AI can offer. No matter the size of your business or the industry you're in, the chances are that you and your customers will find this new technology to be another leap in the right direction -- with better customer experiences, and therefore better business results, providing the clearest signs.
