The discussion around the agentic future of enterprise software is stuck on the promise of tech adoption. We’re debating the ideas – which large language models to use, how to build agents, and the merits of various data fabric architectures, as if once embraced, you’re on the way to success. While important, these conversations miss the point and distract from how these elements will fundamentally change the way business operates. We see organizations making massive tech investments that will ultimately fail to deliver value.
Why? Because they’re treating this as a silver bullet solution. It’s not. The transition to an agentic business fabric future is fundamentally a reinvention of your operating model. Using AI enterprise platforms for internal operations to do what you already do faster is good. Using AI to do things you haven’t done before is better. Success hinges on organizational and commercial shifts in business strategy.
What Is The Agentic Business Fabric?
Forrester’s vision of enterprise software applications. The agentic business fabric is an intelligent ecosystem where AI agents, your data, and your employees work together to achieve business outcomes. Instead of users navigating a dozen applications, the fabric orchestrates the necessary capabilities behind the scenes. The goal is to manage the integration of business workflows and make technology invisible, allowing your teams to focus on strategic work, not complex software.
Stop Focusing On “What Agents Do.” Focus On “How They Decide.”
Most leaders think about how AI will change existing workflows. High-performing enterprises are already redesigning job descriptions. As agents absorb routine tasks, the value of human employees shifts from ‘doing the work’ to supervising the system.
Your future MVPs will be AI supervisors and process optimizers. These roles require deep domain expertise and data literacy. Are you actively defining these roles with HR? Are you building training programs to upskill your best people? If you wait, your workforce will be unprepared for the new operational reality.
Redesign Jobs, Not Just Workflows
Most leaders are thinking about how AI will change existing workflows. Higher performing enterprises are already redesigning job descriptions. As agents absorb routine tasks, the value of human employees shifts from ‘doing the work’ to supervising the system.
Your future MVPs will be AI supervisors, exception handlers, and process optimizers. These roles require a hybrid skill set of deep domain expertise, data literacy, and a strong grasp of AI capabilities. Are you actively defining these roles with HR? Are you building training programs to upskill your best people from doers into optimizers? If you wait until the technology is mature, you will have a workforce unprepared for the new operational reality.
Your Commercial Models Are Now Obsolete
Finally, recognize the new vendor power play. Vendors are using AI urgency to end discounts and reset commercial terms. They sell premium-priced tools, but according to our research, the value is unlocked by your investment in process redesign, not the software. This means the burden of success and most of the cost falls on you. Organizations that fail to build architectural flexibility and financial discipline will find themselves locked into expensive platforms that deliver only theoretical benefits.
Strategic Control Is the Real Challenge
This AI era is about whether you will maintain strategic control over your digital destiny or surrender it. Leveraging the agentic business fabric requires a coalition of technology, business, finance, and HR leaders. Investing in the functional capabilities is the easy part; transforming how your business operates and captures new forms of value is the real challenge.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the main barrier to successful AI functional implementations? A: The primary barrier is not technology but a lack of a clear operating model. Success requires redesigning jobs, achieving semantic alignment on business data, and creating new commercial models before deploying AI tools.
Q: How does an agentic fabric differ from traditional enterprise software? A: Traditional software requires humans to navigate multiple applications to complete a process. An agentic fabric orchestrates the work behind the scenes, allowing users to focus on outcomes and exceptions rather than manual data entry and process management.
Next steps
To dive deeper into the architectural and strategic shifts required, read our new report, The Agentic Business Fabric Will Evolve Enterprise Business Applications. To pressure-test your own strategy, schedule a guidance with us and let’s discuss your operating model for the agentic era.
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