More than 40% of agentic AI projects will be cancelled by the end of 2027 due to rising costs, uncertain business value, and inadequate risk management, according to Gartner.
Major tech companies like Salesforce and Oracle have invested billions into AI agents, advanced systems designed to autonomously execute tasks and achieve business objectives, with the goal of improving efficiency and reducing costs.
Gartner cautioned that numerous suppliers are fueling the hype with “agent washing,” rebadging standard tools, AI assistants, RPA bots, and chatbots as agentic AI despite lacking true autonomy. The firm estimates that of the thousands of vendors touting agentic solutions, Gartner calculates only about 130 actually deliver them.
“Most agentic AI projects right now are early stage experiments or proofs of concept that are mostly driven by hype and are often misapplied,” said Anushree Verma, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner.
“This can blind organisations to the real cost and complexity of deploying AI agents at scale, stalling projects from moving into production. They need to cut through the hype to make careful, strategic decisions about where and how they apply this emerging technology,” she added.
Business value
Gartner forecasts that by 2028, at least 15% of routine workplace decisions will be made autonomously by agentic AI systems—an increase from virtually none in 2024.
Additionally, the firm predicts that agentic AI will be integrated into 33% of enterprise software applications by 2028, a sharp rise from less than 1% in 2024.
