According to Zhitong Finance APP, several major technology companies have begun to invest in the field of AI agents. From NVIDIA (NVDA.US) and Microsoft (MSFT.US) to Salesforce (CRM.US), these companies are increasingly discussing AI agents, claiming they will change how businesses and consumers view AI technology.

If 2024 is the year when AI chatbots become more useful, then 2025 will be the year when AI agents start to take over. AI agents are similar to powerful AI robots that can act on behalf of users, such as extracting data from received emails and importing it into different applications.

The development of AI agents aims to reduce typically troublesome and time-consuming tasks, such as filing expense reports. In the future, it is expected that not only will there be more AI agents, but also that more large technology giants will invest in the development of this technology.

Companies using AI agents report seeing changes based on internal indicators. Charles Lamanna, Vice President of Business and Industry at Microsoft, stated that improvements have been made in addressing IT issues and sales performance. He noted that the IT self-service success rate for Microsoft employees increased by 36%, while revenue per seller grew by 9.4%. The company's human resources case resolution time also saw improvements.

As with any new technology, using AI agents requires some time to adapt. However, if the expectations set by technology companies can be met, it may captivate a large number of users and become an impressive new use case for generative AI.

Bob O'Donnell, President and Chief Analyst of TECHnalysis Research, stated in an interview: "If you can get a very fast, very accurate, and very meaningful and useful response immediately, then that will start to change people's habits." "But changing people's habits takes time."

You will find AI agents in the office and on your mobile phone.

AI chatbots / AI Copilots / AI agents may be confusing. Generative AI chatbots still feel like a new technology, while the next big event has already arrived. However, these three capabilities are all part of the same overall system.

Ray Smith, Vice President of Microsoft AI agents, stated that you can think of AI Copilot as the main interface for interacting with chatbots or assistants. It's somewhat like a main screen that meets your various AI needs. When you ask the chatbot or assistant to complete various tasks for you, it will contact AI agents with the corresponding functions.

For example, if a user wants to book a flight, they can tell the chatbot to see which flights are more suitable. AI will use different AI agents to check the user's flight preferences, Calendar, and availability, and may even consult financial applications to ensure a flight within budget, then provide some flight suggestions.

Earlier this month, Google (GOOGL.US) launched its experimental prototype, Project Mariner, capable of browsing the web and performing tasks through Google's Chrome browser. In a video demonstration, Google showcased an example where the user needed to find contact information for many companies listed in a Google Sheets document. The user instructed Mariner to remember the list of companies, visit their websites, and find their contact emails.

Subsequently, the AI agent proactively navigated to each website, retrieved email information, and provided it to each company. Google significantly accelerated this process in the demonstration video and explained that Mariner is still in the early stages and will require time to complete requests. However, the company stated that accuracy and speed will be improved soon, although the release date is not yet determined.

Apple (AAPL.US)'s Apple Intelligence will eventually also provide AI agent-like features. In an upcoming update, the company stated that users will be able to achieve some tasks with the help of an agent, such as asking Siri when to go to the airport to pick up their husband or wife. The AI assistant will then check the user's emails, see when the flight is expected to land, check traffic conditions through Apple Maps, and suggest the departure time.

According to Daniel Newman, CEO of Futurum Group, AI agents can also help employees find potential business opportunities and assist them in scheduling and booking meetings with potential clients.

However, it is still unrealistic to expect high-performance, multi-step AI to suddenly become mainstream when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve. Starting next year, a part of the market will emerge, but some work may still be needed to address all issues. On the contrary, the future may lean towards more basic use cases for businesses.

O'Donnell said, "There will also be some I call more boring agents that will do some productive things, like automating IT processes and other tedious tasks. I believe these will become very important next year."