Rethinking technology and IT's role in the era of agentic AI and digital labor

Generative AI, agentic AI, and other emerging technologies are morphing companies and driving businesses to rethink organizational structures and traditional roles.

Also: Adobe brings four highly-requested Premiere Pro AI features out of beta

That’s according to the latest report from consultant Accenture, ‘Rethinking IT operating models for the modern enterprise‘. The research suggests current IT processes will not allow businesses to stay ahead of technology disruption, so even though IT continues to play a key role, advising the C-suite and guiding technology deployments across the organization, there is a need for IT to pivot away from traditional operating models towards specialized services focused on delivering value at the speed of need. 

A technology-first focus across the C-suite means answering the following questions: CEO — how do I use technology to drive growth?; CIO — how do I use technology to deliver value to the business?; CXO — how do I use technology to make my function more productive and efficient? 

Also: ChatGPT’s subscribers and revenue soar in 2025 – here’s why

Rethinking technology and the role of IT will drive a shift from the traditional model to a business technology-focused model. One example will be the shift from one large, dedicated IT team that traditionally handles an organization’s technology needs, overseen and directed by the CIO, to more focused IT teams that will perform strategic, high-value activities and help drive technology innovation strategy as Gen AI handles many routine IT tasks. 

Another shift will be spending and budget allocations. Traditionally, CIOs manage the enterprise IT budget and allocation. In the new model, spending on enterprise-wide IT investments continues to be assessed and guided by the CIO, and some enterprise technology investments are now governed and funded by the business units.

Accenture identifies a new framework for rethinking the role of technology and the evolving nature of IT in the modern tech-led enterprise: 

• Amplified intelligence: Considers how human and machine capabilities will drive new efficiencies and significant change in how technology is managed and governed.
• Dynamic skills: Considers how new tools, service delivery models, and roles drive the need for continuous learning and upskilling — and unleashing the power of IT.  AI-augmented workflows allow leaner IT teams to focus their superpowers on driving growth and reducing costs for the organization. Managed services from AI-enabled partners allow IT teams to automate key workloads, deliver services faster, and close knowledge gaps as workers retire or redeploy. The relationship between the CEO and technology leaders will evolve as tech strategy and business priorities converge.
• Fluid boundaries: Considers how access to data and technology is democratized across the business, resulting in flatter organizations and cross-functional teams. The wide availability of Gen AI tools will blur the line between business and IT teams, resulting in integrated business technology functions. The C-suite and board will become more fluent in technology to drive growth. Modernizing the data foundation will be key to achieving results with new technologies.
• Adaptable structures: Considers how AI is changing employee motivation and resetting expectations of how teams are structured and its dynamics as humans and machines collaborate. Incentives and a culture of trust will normalize AI and drive adoption. Thoughtful changes to employee culture will help drive adoption and trust. Compressed delivery cycles will alter agile workflows and staffing models.

Amplified intelligence

The key insights for amplified Intelligence focus on the future of digital labor and the impact of AI in business. Accenture identifies three key takeaways: 

• Breakthroughs in human and machine intelligence require business leaders to improve their fluency and technical acumen. Amplified intelligence is a world where people and machines work better, faster, and smarter together to improve efficiency across the organization.
• AI agents and cognitive digital brains will deliver a generational leap forward in how technology supports IT teams. As technology improves, it begins to self-manage, work autonomously, and fix defects without developer intervention.
• A culture of trust is needed for new technologies to deliver business value, driving the need for responsible AI at scale. Gen AI is changing the nature of IT. It’s driving CIOs to focus on defining responsible policies and governance models to build trust in the technology. And it’s driving an urgent need for executives at every level, including the CEO, to improve their technical fluency and acumen.

Cognitive digital brain

The rise of AI agents and the cognitive digital brain will reshape the IT function and its responsibilities. Crucially, Accenture suggests the most important feature of AI is its ability to learn. 

Also: I tried ChatGPT’s new image generator, and it shattered my expectations

A cognitive digital brain is a system that can understand — and increasingly act — at a higher level than ever before. It will become the central nervous system for enterprise decision-making and continuous learning. Cognitive digital brains are comprised of four interconnected layers:

• Knowledge: Technologies like knowledge graphs and vector databases gather, organize, and structure data across the enterprise and beyond.
• Models: Large-scale gen AI models, and classic machine-learning and deep-learning models, perform critical thinking and reasoning tasks to turn data into action.
• Agents: These problem-solvers can tackle tasks with minimal human input, learn and grow over time, and make recommendations for planning and adaptation.
• Architecture: A comprehensive backbone turns AI experiments into enterprise solutions, democratizing intelligence across the organization in a repeatable way so solutions can be made once and reused. 

Today, agentic AI is not just answering questions — it’s creating. Agents take action autonomously. And it’s changing everything about how technology-led enterprises must design, deploy, and manage new technologies moving forward. We are building self-driving autonomous businesses using agentic AI where humans and machines work together to deliver customer success. However, giving agency to software or machines to act will require a new currency. Trust is the new currency of AI.

Accenture surveyed over 4,000 executives at some of the world’s largest companies. Three-quarters (77%) said they believe the benefits of AI are achievable only when AI is built on a foundation of trust; an even higher share of respondents (81%) said their organization’s trust strategy must be well-defined and evolve in parallel with their technology strategy. 

Also: Why you should ignore 99% of AI tools – and which four I use every day

Governance models and policies must adapt to this reality. Research from Microsoft suggests that 75% of knowledge workers report using Gen AI tools, so ensure these people understand the technology they’re using. Moving forward, IT teams will have the role of communicating to their organizations how Gen AI is making its decisions and how context influences its outputs.

Opportunities for action

Accenture shared lessons on the reinvention of IT based on over 2,000 AI-led projects with clients around the globe. Here are the key actions leaders can take now:

1. Reimagine your business through technology: Connect every point of your IT strategy to the business agenda and create clear metrics that link every technology initiative to a specific business outcome. Identify where AI, data, and emerging technologies can deliver value throughout your organization. Double down on product-oriented teams and use these to create a new portfolio of digital products to drive revenue growth.
2. Flatten hierarchies with a tech-adept leadership and workforce: Create new, hybrid roles that combine business and technical expertise. Build AI and automation capabilities across the organization, underpinned with an ethical framework for AI deployment. Establish technology fluency as a core leadership competency at board and C-suite levels. Develop tech and AI literacy programs for your workforce.
3. Accelerate AI adoption with partnerships: Build a strategic technology partner ecosystem with complementary capabilities that fill talent and technology gaps. Implement a clear partner framework that will manage partner relationships and measure value. Create platform teams focused on scaling priority initiatives using AI. Create joint innovation programs with key partners, and use their capabilities to scale your innovations rapidly.

To learn more about how to rethink IT operating models for the modern enterprise, visit here.