In a world where technology evolves faster than most organizations can adapt, the shift from generative AI to agentic AI marks a pivotal moment. In this episode of #shifthappens, Shashank Kapadia, a seasoned AI and machine learning thought leader, joins the conversation to unpack what this transition means for businesses, leaders, and the future of work.
Shashank’s insights go beyond the hype. He doesn’t just talk about what AI can do — he explores how it changes how we think, decide, and operate. More importantly, he offers a roadmap for how organizations can move from experimentation to execution.
Agentic AI: More Than Just Smarter Tools
For years, AI was seen as a tool for content creation. It could write emails, summarize documents, and generate marketing copies. As Shashank explains, however, we have entered a new phase where AI doesn’t just assist, it acts with judgment and autonomy.
Agentic AI refers to systems that can make decisions, weigh risks, and coordinate with other systems autonomously. Think of it as AI with judgment. In finance, these agents can reconcile reports, flag anomalies, and suggest remediation. In customer support, they can triage queries, search knowledge bases, and deliver accurate responses in seconds.
This shift marks a fundamental change in how enterprises think about AI, not as a tool, but as a teammate. “We’re no longer asking what AI can generate. We’re asking what it can decide and execute—with accountability,” Shashank explains.
Why 2025 Is a Pivotal Year
Shashank predicts that 2025 will be the breakout year for agentic AI. The foundational models are stabilizing, and innovation is now focused on post-processing, human feedback loops, and real-world deployment. Enterprises are shifting their focus from content generation to decision-making and execution.
This convergence of reliable models, scalable infrastructure, and enterprise readiness is setting the stage for widespread adoption across industries, from finance and healthcare to retail and logistics.
Measuring Value in the Age of AI
Despite the technological leap, the core metrics of enterprise value remain unchanged: revenue, productivity, and satisfaction. What’s different is how quickly and efficiently these outcomes can be achieved.
Shashank illustrates this with a simple example:
A customer service agent spends an hour resolving a ticket. With agentic AI, that time drops to minutes, without compromising quality. Multiply that across hundreds of agents, and the productivity gains are exponential.
Similarly, AI agents can surface insights from vast datasets in seconds, helping sales teams identify opportunities, reduce churn, and personalize outreach, all at scale.
Overcoming the Three Hurdles
Of course, transformation doesn’t come without challenges. Shashank identifies three major hurdles:
1. Human Resistance
Change is hard. Skepticism and fear of displacement can slow adoption. To reduce skepticism and fear of displacement, leaders should lead by example by actively using AI in their work and clearly communicating its benefits. Practical strategies for guiding teams through uncertainty and building trust can make adoption feel less like a threat and more like an opportunity.
2. Technological Limitations
Accuracy, transparency, and scalability remain key concerns, especially when AI is making decisions. Addressing these concerns starts with strong human oversight and a foundation of high-quality data. Organizations that prioritize governance and data integrity are better positioned to deploy AI systems that are both reliable and adaptable.
3. Governance and Compliance
Ethical development and compliance must be embedded from the start. Establishing clear accountability, preparing for audits, and proactively managing risk help organizations maintain trust and stay ahead of evolving regulations.
6 Actions to Kickstart Your Agentic AI Strategy
To help organizations navigate this shift, Shashank offers six practical, action-driven takeaways. These go beyond ideas as they can be starting points for fundamental transformation.
1. Stop Asking What AI Can Write and Start Asking What It Can Decide
AI has evolved far beyond generating content. Today’s models can make decisions, weigh risks, and coordinate across systems. Shashank emphasizes that we’re entering a new phase where AI mirrors human judgment and acts autonomously.
✅ Action: Identify one workflow in your organization where AI can take action and not just assist. Think beyond writing and toward decision-making.
2. 2025 Is the Year of Agentic AI. Don’t Get Left Behind
Agentic AI is already transforming industries. Organizations that delay adoption risk falling behind.
✅ Action: Audit your current AI stack. Are your tools capable of autonomous decision-making? If not, start evaluating agentic platforms now.
3. Measure What Matters, Then Scale What Works
Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index reveals that organizations are preparing for a significant shift in how work gets done. Over the next five years, 38% of leaders expect their teams to redesign business processes with AI, 42% anticipate building multi-agent systems to automate complex tasks, 41% foresee training these agents, and 36% plan to manage them.
These expectations underscore a critical point: the value of AI still comes down to business fundamentals: revenue, productivity, and employee satisfaction. Agentic AI can potentially accelerate all three, but only if organizations clearly define success metrics and measure outcomes.
✅ Action: Set clear KPIs for your first AI agent. Track time saved, insights delivered, and decisions made. Use this data to justify scaling.
4. Solve the Three Hurdles Before You Scale
The path to enterprise-wide agentic AI begins with confronting the resistance, limitations, and ethical gaps that stand in the way. As Anthropic’s research on agentic misalignment highlights, autonomous systems without proper oversight can pose significant risks. Organizations must resolve these challenges to unlock scalable, accountable AI systems that drive real business transformation.
✅ Action: Build a cross-functional AI task force. Include stakeholders from IT, compliance, HR, and operations to tackle adoption, infrastructure, and ethical oversight.
5. Start Small, Go Deep, Then Expand
Instead of launching broad pilots, Shashank recommends deploying one specialized agent with a narrow scope. This allows for a more profound impact and a more precise measurement.
✅ Action: Choose a high-volume, repetitive task, like claims triage or onboarding, and deploy a specialized agent to own it end-to-end.
6. Build Ethically Even Without Regulation
With global AI regulations still evolving, ethical development must come from within. Shashank urges organizations to embed responsible design principles from the start.
✅ Action: Create an internal AI ethics checklist. Apply it to every deployment, regardless of external mandates. Make compliance a culture, not a checkbox.
Innovation Happens in Discomfort
Shashank closes with a powerful reminder: innovation doesn’t happen in comfort zones. It happens when organizations are willing to challenge assumptions, embrace uncertainty, and push the boundaries of what’s possible.
“Innovation happens in discomfort. That’s where the real shift begins,” Shashank mentions.
As enterprises prepare for the next wave of intelligent automation, the question now is whether your organization will be ready to lead it.
Shashank Kapadia's comments and opinions are provided in their personal capacity and not as a representative of Walmart. They do not reflect the views of Walmart and are not endorsed by Walmart.
Episode Resources
#shifthappens Research: AI & Information Management Report
#shifthappens Insights:
- The Power of Data in Shaping AI: Maximizing Impact
- Empowering Career Growth in a Hybrid World: Strategies for Leaders to Thrive
#shifthappens Podcasts:
- How to Make AI Work for Your Business
- The Future of Work in the Age of AI
- AI Revolution: Challenges & Opportunities in the Workplace
- Leadership Principles That Drive Big Bet Transformation
Shashank Kapadia on LinkedIn
Dux Raymond Sy on LinkedIn
Mario Carvajal on LinkedIn
