Research by Agentic AI firm Gravitee finds that most large companies will ‘employ’ between 16-20 AI Agents to carry out tasks previously completed by human workers.

In the survey of 250 C-suite executives at large UK companies (250+ employees), every respondent shared plans to use AI agents in some way.   Even the most conservative participants in this research expected  a minimum of 5 AI Agents on their books by the end of 2026.

65% of firms also shared that they would be reducing headcount over the same period, suggesting that much of the work done by their current employees could be performed more cheaply by AI-powered bot workers.

And it’s not just junior roles impacted. 97% of the bosses surveyed predicted that even parts of their own jobs could be taken over by AI Agents.

Amazon, Telstra, Salesforce and Fiverr have all announced plans for lay-offs in the last twelve months, with jobs going instead to AI Agents.

More than half of the work of a Software Engineer, HR Manager or Customer Service rep could be done by an AI Agent, according to 46% of executives. This trend – particularly in highly regulated or sensitive industries – requires rigorous safeguards in place, and Gravitee provides the infrastructure to deliver this. This means businesses don't have to choose between AI efficiency and important final control of their workflows.

“Agentic AI will offer a huge productivity boom to firms of all sizes, with AI agents completing rote, repetitive tasks while workers are freed up to focus on more interesting challenges,” said Rory Blundell, CEO, Gravitee.

“However, it’s clear that, at least in the short term, there’s a risk of widespread job cuts until companies know how to balance the investment with the return, which may be shortsighted. Not least because AI Agents, without proper governance, can cause widespread chaos and disruption. It was reassuring to see that nearly a quarter of companies actually plan to increase their headcount to support agentic AI expansion: these are the companies that see the human-AI connection as a value unlock, not as a trade-off. Just as the Industrial Revolution and then the internet created completely new types of jobs, I expect we will see the same in this AI Revolution.”

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