Achieving the full scale of Agentic AI

This post is sponsored by Deloitte and Google Cloud.

Businesses may struggle under the growing pressure to be more efficient and more profitable with fewer resources, all while creating personalized experiences for each customer. Agentic AI is the new frontier, transforming processes through autonomous decision-making; however, new dangers are being introduced, such as the risk of cascading failures and expanding attack surfaces.

The banking and insurance industries are facing increasing compliance demands. Retailers struggle with fragmented customer journeys and supply chain volatility. Health care and life sciences companies are buckling under staff shortages and administrative burdens.

Incremental gains are no longer enough, and some leaders are looking to move beyond task-level automation to achieve measurable outcomes at scale.

Many are turning to Agentic AI, which has the potential to bring a level of speed and scale previously out of reach, according to Google Cloud and Deloitte’s “Scaling Agentic AI: Opportunities, challenges and cybersecurity considerations.” In a 2025 Predictions Report, Deloitte US predicts that 25% of enterprises using Generative AI are expected to deploy AI agents by 2025, growing to 50% by 2027.

Solving trillion-dollar problems

Agentic AI is helping to transform the use of enterprise data, allowing it to deliver measurable outcomes across various sectors:

Financial services/insurance: AI agents can handle claims, optimize processes and monitor risk in real-time.
Retail/CPG: AI can resolve customer issues, predict demand, create personalized offers and optimize marketing campaigns.
Health care/life sciences: AI agents can help reduce errors, speed treatments and bring faster breakthroughs in patient care and drug discovery.
Tech/TMEG: AI can generate content, help ensure rights compliance, resolve outages and speed software development.

Agentic AI can also transform security operations. Security operations centers face a constant flow of security alerts, with 71% of data analysts reporting burnout and 64% considering switching jobs within a year. AI agents can assist by prioritizing alerts, detecting unusual activity and automating routine tasks, allowing analysts to focus on the most important threats.

But while AI agents can enhance security by autonomously sensing and responding to threats, they can also introduce new risks:

Hallucinations and errors that can spread at high speed.
Increased attack surface as AI agents operate across multiple systems.
Cascading failures if an agent makes a mistake that is amplified across agents and systems.
Skill gaps where organizations lack the knowledge to build, scale and manage advanced AI systems.

AI success requires both strong risk frameworks and human oversight. Google Cloud and Deloitte recommend a clear navigation plan, including:

Strategy and governance: Leaders must develop a clear plan based on sound strategy, governance and security.
Frameworks: AI governance should be guided by strong principles, such as Deloitte’s Trustworthy AI Framework™
Oversight: Effective governance should secure access and include a human-in-the-loop review process at important checkpoints.

Organizations ready to implement a strong framework can benefit from working with collaborators that have deep industry and cybersecurity experience. They can help ensure decisions are well-informed, risks are mitigated and that business operations are transformed by effective, trustworthy Agentic AI.

Learn more: Read Google Cloud and Deloitte’s “Scaling Agentic AI: Opportunities, challenges and cybersecurity considerations” report.

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), its global network of member firms, and their related entities (collectively, the “Deloitte organization”). DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) and each of its member firms and related entities are legally separate and independent entities, which cannot obligate or bind each other in respect of third parties. DTTL and each DTTL member firm and related entity is liable only for its own acts and omissions, and not those of each other. DTTL does not provide services to clients. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more.

This communication contains general information only, and none of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), its global network of member firms or their related entities (collectively, the “Deloitte organization”) is, by means of this communication, rendering professional advice or services. Before making any decision or taking any action that may affect your finances or your business, you should consult a qualified professional adviser.

No representations, warranties or undertakings (express or implied) are given as to the accuracy or completeness of the information in this communication, and none of DTTL, its member firms, related entities, employees or agents shall be liable or responsible for any loss or damage whatsoever arising directly or indirectly in connection with any person relying on this communication. DTTL and each of its member firms, and their related entities, are legally separate and independent entities.