Source: Fortune
Summary
Two executives, Eric Kelleher of Okta and Francine Katsoudas of Cisco, disagreed on whether AI agents should be treated as colleagues or tools during the Fortune COO Summit. Kelleher believes naming AI agents can help integrate them into the workforce, while Katsoudas thinks it’s essential to distinguish between humans and AI. Research from Cognizant found that 93% of jobs are already being disrupted by AI, but productivity gains have not materialized. The debate highlights the challenges companies face in redesigning work around AI.
Our Reading
The announcement sounds familiar.
Executives are still debating how to integrate AI agents into the workforce. Okta’s Eric Kelleher and Cisco’s Francine Katsoudas disagree on whether AI agents should be treated as colleagues or tools. Research from Cognizant and Harvard Business Review highlights the challenges companies face in redesigning work around AI. The debate is not just about semantics, but about how to redesign work and manage the workforce in the age of AI. The bottleneck is at the managerial level, where org charts, budget cycles, and performance processes need to be rebuilt for a workforce that includes AI agents.
Managers are still not taking AI agents seriously enough as a category of labor.
