Reimaging CX in an Agentic World

As my graduating son from Dartmouth recently told me "it’s a great time to be alive with everything going on in technology (Agentic AI, DeepSeek, etc.)"  I agree with him and there is so much that we still need to learn! So, I decided to attend the Hard Skill Exchange Agentic AI summit last week and my mind is still racing with questions and the possibilities as we continue to embrace AI and move into the age of intelligent agents.

My main takeaway was that Agentic AI is reshaping how we need to think about teams, tools, and customer value. What does this next wave of AI mean for how we need to operate in the future?

Organization Design: We need to completely rethink our organizational structures.

• What should our team structures look like when AI agents are doing real work alongside humans?
• Do they “join” meetings? (will I need to ask them to turn their cameras on too)?
• How do I measure them? What does their job description look like?
• Who supervises them?
• What new roles will we need to create and what new models of collaboration will there need to be between humans and machines?

Process Redesign: We can’t just plug AI into legacy workflows. We need to start from the bottom up and ask:

• Are our processes designed for outcomes or efficiency and how are we optimizing for both?
• Where can agents drive net new customer value, not just automation?
• How do we make our processes more modular so we can keep up with the pace of innovation?
• Should we think less about functions across the org and more about capabilities breaking down silos to take better advantage of the technology?

Tech Stack Strategy: The ecosystem is exploding. So many new companies are doing similar things.

• What tools will actually viable long-term?
• How should we be maximizing what we already have?
• How can our existing systems better talk to each other?
• Do we have the architecture and data readiness to support agent-based work?

Budgeting & Measuring ROI: AI investment demands a new lens.

• How do we budget for agentic systems — as infrastructure, as talent, or as strategic initiatives?
• What does “value” look like: Cost reduction? Speed? Customer experience? Learning agility?
• How do we balance short-term gains with long-term impact?

Governance & Oversight: As agents become more autonomous, management complexity skyrockets.

• Who’s responsible for their actions?
• How do we monitor, escalate, and audit decisions? Do we need an AI Center of Excellence to help leaders coordinate activities?
• Do we have the right guardrails to keep innovation aligned with ethics and risk tolerance?
• Are we feeding these systems the right data — clean, relevant, and complete?
• Are we asking the right questions to generate the insights we need?

Customer Experience: While we’re asking all these internal questions — we can’t lose sight of the customer’s experience. Agentic AI isn’t just about working faster or smarter internally; I strongly feel it’s also about how those changes show up for our customers. That includes balancing operational productivity with a differentiated, human-centered customer experience. Speed is great, but only if it still feels like service.

• Are we creating interactions that are frictionless but also human?
• Are we improving productivity at the cost of trust, clarity, or delight?
• How should we rethink how to deliver value to ensure that customer experience remains central — not an afterthought? Because in the end, that's what will differentiate leaders from the rest.

Bottom line: Leadership in the era of Agentic AI isn’t about having all the answers (there is still so much to learn, and we are in the early days) it’s about asking the right questions and creating the space to reimagine work, roles, and results.

#AI #AgenticAI #Leadership #DigitalTransformation #FutureOfWork #CustomerExperience