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Unit4’s CTO Claus Jepsen offers commentary on why agentic AI should be an evolution, not a revolution. <\/strong><\/em>This article originally appeared in Insight Jam<\/a>, an enterprise IT community that enables human conversation on AI.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n U.S. private AI investment\u00a0grew to $109.1 billion<\/a>\u00a0in 2024 \u2013 leading to an \u201cAI arms race\u201d in which many businesses scrambled to be the first to announce shiny new capabilities. But did some tech vendors get so caught up in the AI FOMO (fear of missing out) that they lost sight of the user experience?<\/p>\n Instead of approaching agentic AI as a revolution, we should see it for what it is: an evolution. The ERP industry has been on a decades-long mission to automate processes, and agentic AI is an important part of this progression. As with any innovation, the most valuable applications often aren\u2019t immediately apparent, but emerge over time. After all, before it was popularized as a children\u2019s toy,\u00a0the Slinky was invented<\/a>\u00a0as a naval instrument during World War II.<\/p>\n This example illustrates why it\u2019s critical to take a pragmatic, user-driven approach to AI innovation. It should be defined by the end user\u2019s requirements, not simply a competitor\u2019s roadmap.<\/p>\n Capabilities alone are no longer enough to differentiate a product. In our AI-driven era,\u00a0how<\/em>\u00a0users interact with a solution matters more than\u00a0what<\/em>\u00a0its functionality is. So much of AI\u2019s value hinges on asking the right questions \u2013 but it\u2019s a lot to put the onus on users to always know what to ask.<\/p>\n To maximize adoption and effectiveness, conversational AI should be intuitive and effortless. AI agents can take the burden off employees by offering contextual assistance. For example, agents could go a step beyond presenting an employee with payroll information by providing a breakdown of how to interpret the paystub.<\/p>\n The automotive industry is already building toward a future where self-driving cars remove the most tedious and error-prone aspects of driving. We need a similar paradigm shift in enterprise software \u2013 a \u201cself-driving ERP.\u201d Instead of users going into a system to hunt down the information they need, a self-driving ERP system would predict and proactively surface the most relevant insights. It could learn from usage patterns, providing personalized recommendations and, ultimately, performing tasks autonomously. AI agents play a critical role in this self-driving evolution, serving as a central command center that brings users the answers without the need for any direct interaction with the ERP system.<\/p>\n Amid the AI hype of the past few years, many businesses rolled out multiple, siloed AI agents to handle different functions. But what users truly crave is a minimalist approach. ChatGPT\u2019s popularity is due in large part to its simplicity: users know they can go to this one single interface for a myriad of requests, from drafting a cover letter to calculating probability.<\/p>\n We need to bring this same unified approach to enterprise software, prioritizing the quality of a single \u201csuper\u201d agent over quantity. Rather than asking employees to juggle a different AI agent for invoicing, payroll, project tracking and talent management, we should meet them where they are. That means integrating ERP agents with the workplace collaboration tools employees are already using \u2013 whether it\u2019s Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Slack. In fact, the goal should be to make the ERP system invisible to the user, allowing them to focus on outcomes rather than the mechanism.<\/p>\n The B2C world has already shifted toward an instant gratification economy, where consumers have come to expect same-day shipping and five-minute rideshare wait times. While the B2B world is inevitably more complex and less instantaneous, enterprise technology adoption will lag if we don\u2019t put customer experience and ease of use at the center of innovation.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/solutionsreview.com\/security-information-event-management\/files\/2025\/03\/Insight-Jam-Logo-2025-Square.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/a><\/p>\nBuilding an Intuitive User Experience<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Less Is More: The Singular AI Agent<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Slow & Steady Wins the AI Race<\/strong><\/h4>\n