Would your organization benefit from unlimited employees who perceive their environment, make decisions and execute tasks with minimal human intervention? As tech firms march innovation forward, many experts say this is a near-term reality thanks to AI agents.

Mick Costigan, VP of Salesforce Futures, is focused on the intersection of technology and the workplace, advising Salesforce leadership and customers about innovations of the future. He’s got a finger on the (digital) pulse of AI agents, which many tech developers say have the potential to redefine the way the world works.

Everyone’s talking about agents, for good reason,” says Costigan.

From ‘speculation to innovation’

Costigan’s perspective aligns with broader industry trends. At HR Tech last September, industry icon Josh Bersin called agentic AI one of the biggest tech transformations of 2025. Workday, Oracle, IBM, Dayforce and other HR tech giants have announced agentic AI capabilities for their customers. Costigan says this innovation is to be expected at this stage, noting, “The topic has evolved from speculation to innovation.”

As autonomous AI agents gain traction, Costigan explains, these tools are evolving beyond basic automation, fundamentally transforming leadership, workforce dynamics and business operations. This raises an obvious question: How do agents fit into the HR space?

Agents can potentially improve the employee experience and support HR teams in tandem. As Kathleen Hogan, chief people officer at Microsoft, told HR Executive last year: “This really moves it from the notion that employees have to go to a portal to pull the data to a more proactive agent that is pulling the data for you, making recommendations, and pushing and nudging you to do things,” says Hogan.

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Source : https://hrexecutive.com/salesforce-futurist-predicts-hr-leaders-will-get-an-ai-agent-chief-of-staff/