Gartner Predicts AI Will Augment Half of Business Decisions by 2027

AI will handle half of all business decisions by 2027 - Gartner report

AI agents, as you've probably noticed, are suddenly everywhere. Leading tech companies have been releasing agentic AI tools in droves, motivated by investor pressure to show returns on enormous AI investments. Smaller businesses, meanwhile, seem to be embracing these tools with similar verve. Also: Anthropic now lets developers use Claude Code with any remote MCP server Now, Gartner predicts that the role of AI agents within businesses will only become more pronounced. In its latest Data & Analytics Predictions report, the consulting firm forecasts that half of all business decisions will be fully automated or at least partially augmented by AI agents within the next two years. "Gartner recommends [data and analytics] leaders work with business stakeholders to identify and prioritize decisions critical to the success of the organization, and those that can benefit from more effective application of analytics and AI," the authors write in the report. Tech developers are marketing agents as a more sophisticated variety of chatbots. Agents can augment human creativity and productivity by interacting with apps and other digital tools to complete tasks on behalf of individuals and organizations. It's not just the little, day-to-day decisions that will increasingly be offloaded to AI. By 2029, according to the Gartner report, one-in-ten executive boards worldwide will turn to AI (including agents, presumably) for assistance when making substantial business decisions. While the report doesn't get into details about what such automated top-down decision-making could look like in practice, it recommends that board members get ahead of this trend by starting to draft policies around the use and governance of AI. Also: The death of spreadsheets: Why AI will soon be the dominant business reporting tool "This will enable them to use AI as a strategic advisor while maintaining trust and control," the authors write. The report doesn't argue that the growing role of AI within business decision-making processes will negate the need for humans in the loop. On the contrary, it emphasizes continual human oversight to ensure high-quality data and effective governance. Speaking of human oversight, the new Gartner report also stressed the importance of upskilling to prepare businesses for the ongoing surge of AI agents. Over the next two years, the firm predicts, the businesses that place a premium on training executives in AI literacy will see revenues of up to 20% higher than those that do not. Also: The great AI skills disconnect - and how to fix it The Gartner report also recommended that data and analytics professionals prioritize effective management of synthetic data, develop generative AI models in-house (rather than paying for third-party services), and optimize model output (i.e., minimize hallucination). Reading Gartner's new report, one gets the sense that AI agents, which most people had never heard of just a year or two ago, are suddenly one of the technological cornerstones of the private sector. Many business leaders, therefore, are probably feeling whiplashed as they try to keep up with the pace of innovation and deployment. Also: 8 AI features coming to iOS 26 that actually excite me (and how to try them now) A recent report from Cisco, for example, found that close to three-quarters of all customer service interactions with tech vendors could become automated by AI agents by 2028. The technology was also highlighted by Forrester as one of the emerging technologies most poised to transform the business landscape.

By 2027, 50% of business decisions will be augmented by AI agents for decision intelligence: Report

According to a report by Gartner, Inc., by 2027, 50% of business decisions will be augmented or automated by AI agents for decision intelligence. This integration will enhance decision flows by handling complex analysis and data retrieval. Gartner recommends D&A leaders prioritise critical decisions that can benefit from advanced AI. Idoine cautioned that AI agents aren't "a panacea, nor are they infallible," stressing the need for effective governance and human AI literacy. Another significant prediction in the report is that organisations that prioritise AI literacy for their executives are projected to achieve 20% higher financial performance by 2027. Additionally, Gartner suggests D&A leaders implement experiential upskilling programs, such as developing domain-specific prototypes to make AI tangible. However, a critical challenge highlighted in the report is that by 2027, 60% of D&A leaders will face critical failures in managing synthetic data, risking AI governance, model accuracy, and compliance. While synthetic data is crucial for privacy and generating diverse datasets, complexities arise in ensuring its accuracy, scalability, and integration. Additionally, looking ahead, by 2028, 30% of GenAI pilots will be built in-house for large-scale production, driven by lower costs and increased control, rather than relying on packaged applications. Building GenAI models internally offers greater flexibility and long-term value. Lastly, by 2029, 10% of global boards are predicted to utilize AI guidance to challenge executive decisions that are material to their business. As AI becomes integral to board-level strategy, robust data governance, regulatory clarity, and reputation management will become paramount. "Nearly everything today - from the way we work to how we make decisions - is directly or indirectly influenced by AI. But it doesn't deliver value on its own - AI needs to be tightly aligned with data, analytics and governance to enable intelligent, adaptive decisions and actions across the organisation," said Carlie Idoine, VP Analyst at Gartner. Gartner's key predictions include a significant increase in business decisions augmented or automated by AI agents, a direct correlation between executive AI literacy and higher financial performance, and potential critical failures in managing synthetic data that could risk AI governance, model accuracy, and compliance. The company advises integrating some strategic assumptions into their planning over the next two to three years.

Gartner Announces the Top Data & Analytics Predictions

Analysts Explore the Latest Data & Analytics Trends During Gartner Data & Analytics Summit, June 17-18 in Sydney has announced the top data and analytics (D&A) predictions for 2025 and beyond. Among the top predictions, half of business decisions will be augmented or automated by AI agents; executive AI literacy will drive higher financial performance; and critical failures in managing synthetic data will risk AI governance, model accuracy and compliance. During the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit in today, , VP Analyst at Gartner, said, 'Nearly everything today - from the way we work to how we make decisions - is directly or indirectly influenced by AI. But it doesn't deliver value on its own - AI needs to be tightly aligned with data, analytics and governance to enable intelligent, adaptive decisions and actions across the organization.' Gartner recommends organizations use the following strategic assumptions to inform their planning over the next 2-3 years. By 2027, 50% of business decisions will be augmented or automated by AI agents for decision intelligence. Decision intelligence combines data, analytics and AI to create decision flows that support and automate complex judgements. AI agents enhance this process by handling the complexity, analysis and retrieval of various data sources. Gartner recommends D&A leaders work with business stakeholders to identify and prioritize decisions critical to the success of the organization, and those that can benefit from more effective application of analytics and AI. 'AI agents for decision intelligence aren't a panacea, nor are they infallible,' said Idoine. 'They must be used collectively with effective governance and risk management. Human decisions still require proper knowledge, as well as data and AI literacy.' By 2027, organizations that emphasize AI literacy for executives will achieve 20% higher financial performance compared with those that do not. Unlocking AI's full business potential requires building executive AI literacy. They must be educated on AI opportunities, risks and costs to make effective, future-ready decisions on AI investments that accelerate organizational outcomes. Gartner recommends D&A leaders introduce experiential upskilling programs for executives, such as developing domain-specific prototypes to make AI tangible. This will lead to greater and more appropriate investment in AI capabilities. By 2027, 60% of data and analytics leaders will face critical failures in managing synthetic data, risking AI governance, model accuracy, and compliance. Using synthetic data to train AI models is now a critical strategy for enhancing privacy and generating diverse datasets. However, complexities arise from the need to ensure synthetic data accurately represents real-world scenarios, scales effectively to meet growing data demand and integrates seamlessly with existing data pipelines and systems. 'To manage these risks, organizations need effective metadata management,' said Idoine. 'Metadata provides the context, lineage and governance needed to track, verify and manage synthetic data responsibly, which is essential to maintaining AI accuracy and meeting compliance standards.' By 2028, 30% of GenAI pilots that move forward into large scale production will be built versus deployed using packaged applications to lower cost and increase control. Building GenAI models in-house offers flexibility, control and long-term value that many packaged tools cannot match. As internal capabilities grow, Gartner recommends organizations adopt a clear framework for build versus buy decisions. It must factor in cost, time to market, available skillsets, integration capabilities, compliance and risk. By 2027, organizations that prioritize semantics in AI-ready data will increase their GenAI model accuracy by up to 80% and reduce costs by up to 60%. Poor semantics in GenAI lead to greater hallucinations, more tokens required and higher costs. Organizations that rethink data management to focus on active metadata drive greater model accuracy and efficiency, have higher AI data readiness and reduce compute costs. According to Gartner, this enables AI agents to operate more effectively and facilitates smarter, faster decision making across the organization. By 2029, 10% of global boards will use AI guidance to challenge executive decisions that are material to their business. As AI becomes embedded in board-level strategy, the need for strong data governance, regulatory clarity and reputation management will intensify. Gartner recommends boards define the boundaries of AI involvement in decision making and establish clear policies around oversight, responsibility and regulatory compliance. This will enable them to use AI as a strategic advisor while maintaining trust and control. Gartner clients can read more in Predicts 2025: AI-Powered Analytics Will Revolutionize Decision Making and Predicts 2025: CDAOs Must Embrace Their Role in AI or Risk Credibility Loss. Additional insight is available in the complimentary Gartner webinar The Gartner Top Data & Analytics Predictions for 2025. Gartner Data & Analytics Summit Gartner analysts are providing additional analysis on data and analytics trends at the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit taking place in this week, . Follow news and updates from the conferences on X using #GartnerDA. About Gartner for Data & Analytics Leaders Gartner for Data & Analytics Leaders provides actionable, objective insight to CDAOs and data & analytics leaders to help them accelerate their D&A strategy and operating model to increase business value. Additional information is available at https://www.gartner.com/en/data-analytics. Follow news and updates from Gartner for D&A Leaders on X and LinkedIn using #GartnerDA. 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