New research shows the next wave of AI expands both productivity and the scope of work.
For businesses, the most important question about agentic AI is whether it actually changes what work people can get done. The new working paper, “How AI Agents Reshape Knowledge Work: Autonomy, Efficiency, and Scope,” begins to answer that question. Co-written by HBS AI Institute affiliate Jeremy Yang and using data from Perplexity, the paper outlines the immense changes in store when execution moves from workers’ hands to a machine’s.
Why This Matters
This research suggests that AI agents can unlock value by helping humans push at the edges of what their roles can include. A manager may prototype a dashboard, a marketer could conduct deeper financial analysis, a lawyer might produce more polished client-ready materials, or a founder may move further into product and design work. For business leaders and executives, implementing AI adoption in your organization needs to include an expanded vision of your people’s potential as much as it includes increased technological productivity and efficiency.
Link to the HBS AI Institute Insight Article
Link to the Research Paper
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