Judging by a slew of recent corporate announcements, your next “co-worker” might be an artificial intelligence agent – doing the work of an assistant, job scheduler, morning debriefer, learning coach and more.
JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank, describes a clear vision for a new world of omnipresent AI agents: “Every employee will have their own personalized AI assistant; every process is powered by AI agents, and every client experience has an AI concierge.”
In brick-and-mortar retail, Walmart is already implementing its vision around agents, which involves support of customers, in-store employees and other business areas, with supervisor agents assigning tasks to subagents much like managers oversee employees.
What these and many other large organizations realize is that agents don’t just answer questions, like an AI-powered search engine or simple chatbot. They complete real work by planning tasks, taking actions and checking results to achieve a goal.
But there’s a problem. Companies in industries ranging from finance and tech to logistics and legal are rapidly embracing the promise of AI agents. But the flesh-and-blood workers they’re meant to assist – and sometimes replace – are struggling to adapt, hurting morale and productivity in the process.
The result is a growing climate of fear about AI job insecurity. FOBO – fear of becoming obsolete – is now a thing. A recent survey by consultancy KPMG found that 52% of workers report they are concerned that AI could eventually take their jobs. And some are fighting back. In another survey, nearly one-third said they are actively sabotaging their company’s AI strategy.
To make matters worse, some of these AI agents are going rogue, deleting data or executing other unintended actions.
My research on AI and agent capabilities, value and risk, as well as emerging studies of the cognitive implications of AI, the future of work and the role of AI in workplace inequality, suggest two key lessons for anyone navigating this new AI agent reality:
First, learn how the agents you’re working with operate, including what they do well, where they fall short and how to catch mistakes.
Second, lean into your fundamentally human strengths. These are things agents can’t replicate. Doing so can also help you sustain your own health and well-being.
Rise of the AI agents
AI agents began entering the workforce in 2025 – mainly in tech, finance and customer service – as the next stage of the generative AI revolution. But in 2026, the AI-powered automators are increasingly being deployed in other areas, such as legal and compliance, supply chain management, research and development, healthcare services and retail.
One example is global transportation giant FedEx, which is planning an entire AI agent workforce for its logistic network. The company plans to create “manager agents,” “audit agents” and “worker agents” to create a trail of…
