2025: Agentive and physical AI

For centuries, human innovation has been driven by a singular quest: to increase our physical strength. From the harnessing of animal power to the industrial revolution’s embrace of coal and steam, we have relentlessly sought to replace human muscle with machines. But the year 2025 marks a profound turning point. The focus now shifts from enhancing our physical abilities to augmenting our cognitive abilities.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s bold statement at CES 2025—that AI agents represent a multi-trillion dollar opportunity—resonated throughout the business world.

The age of agentic AI has arrived. Bridging the virtual and physical realms, we stand at a pivotal moment where human ingenuity will be augmented by intelligent machines. This convergence of agentic AI, intelligent software agents capable of independent learning. actions and tasks, with physical artificial intelligence, including robots and machines that interact with the physical world, is poised to fundamentally reshape the global economic landscape.

The Rise of Intelligent Agents: Transforming Work and Life

The impact of agentic AI extends far beyond the automation of simple work tools. These intelligent agents will transform the way we work, live and interact with the world around us.

• Transforming the workplace: Multiple industry forecasts, validated by extensive research across sectors, predict that AI agents will automate up to 70% of office work tasks within the next decade. This transformative change promises to significantly increase productivity and efficiency by fundamentally redefining the nature of work. While a significant proportion of roles can be automated, most will evolve to prioritize nuanced, creative and critical thinking skills. This transition is likely to emphasize human strengths such as building relationships, building trust, and cultivating deeper emotional intelligence. Interestingly, by automating routine tasks, AI agents can inadvertently foster stronger human connections and encourage us to prioritize these uniquely human qualities in our interactions.
• Democratization access: The rise of AI agents will democratize expertise for anyone to access it. Due to its multi-modal format (text, photo, audio, video), anyone, regardless of their digital skills, will be able to chat and access the rich knowledge that comes with an agent application in your smartphone or desktop. Small businesses and individuals will have access to powerful AI tools and resources previously only available to large corporations. This democratization of knowledge will drive innovation and empower entrepreneurship on an unprecedented scale.
• Agent economy: We are entering a new era where individuals and businesses will interact with and manage (or, for some, be managed by) a network of AI agents. These intelligent assistants will handle routine tasks, administrative tasks, and project setup, freeing people to focus on higher-level functions like creative thinking, building relationships, and driving trust in business development. This shift marks the emergence of an agent economy where AI augments human capabilities, driving innovation across sectors.

Physical AI: Connecting the Digital and Physical Worlds

The power of agentic AI extends beyond the digital realm, seamlessly integrating with the physical world to unlock new frontiers in automation and efficiency, delivering multi-trillion dollar opportunities in industries from transportation to healthcare:

• Autonomous systems: For several years, self-driving vehicles have slowly progressed from research and development to pilot projects and programs. Not all have succeeded, and most have stopped due to financial and computing power constraints. However, this year marks a turning point, with companies like Waymo leading the world on the road to commercialization with almost 200,000 weekly paid trips on its ridehail robotaxi service. Autonomous drones for delivery and support services are on track to begin scaling, and robotic assembly and collaborative support systems are making inroads into every part of the economy. All three will escalate over this next decade. These robotic agents will be powered by sophisticated AI algorithms that are emerging in key sectors such as transportation, logistics and manufacturing.
• Smart Cities and Regions: AI-powered infrastructure, including smart grids, intelligent traffic management systems and predictive maintenance for utilities, will optimize the distribution of urban and surrounding regional resources where more than half the world lives today. Additionally, these AI systems will improve the prediction of stress points, enabling proactive emergency preparedness in the face of increased extreme weather events. For example, tools like Firesat, developed by Google’s AI teams, can detect fires as small as a classroom with high-resolution updates every 20 minutes, providing critical information to agencies and residents for timely action.
• Healthcare advances: From robotic surgery systems to AI-powered diagnostic tools, physical AI is poised to dramatically change healthcare delivery. This transformative technology is being applied to adjacent industries and is poised to alleviate the current bottlenecks of the healthcare system, increasing transparency and efficiency, while improving patient outcomes and expanding access to quality care.

Unforeseen Possibilities: The Hidden Economies of Agentive AI

While the impact on traditional industries is well-documented, the true potential of agentic AI lies in unlocking “hidden economies” that have yet to be fully explored.

• Predictive Weather Modeling and Disaster Response: AI agents can analyze vast data sets of weather patterns, climate models and sensor data in real time to predict and mitigate the impact of natural disasters. This can lead to more effective disaster response, improved infrastructure resilience and reduced economic losses. Insurance companies, public agencies and local governments will come to use this technology more and more to make difficult decisions about rebuilding or withdrawing from areas prone to extreme weather.
• Personalized travel experiences: AI-powered travel agents can curate personalized travel itineraries, predict travelers’ needs and provide real-time assistance throughout the customer’s door-to-door journey, improving the travel experience and increasing tourism revenue .
• Precision farming: AI agents can optimize farming practices and systems by analyzing vast data sets from soil conditions, weather patterns and crop health data. Combined with farmers’ local knowledge and indigenous practices, regions can manage more sustainable yields, reduce costly external inputs and minimize resource consumption. These practices can also be used at the local level to improve access and food security.

The Way Forward: Navigating the Challenges and Embracing the Future

While we are still in the early stages of this AI revolution, 2025 marks an important turning point. Although I have tested and reviewed dozens of AI agents in various industries, and while they have made significant progress compared to a year ago, they are still in their infancy and have limitations. This means that today’s versions represent their least capable state. Similar to how early mobile applications rapidly evolved, AI agents will undergo significant improvements with each update, and newer, more advanced agents will emerge, surpassing their predecessors. This rapid evolution will create even greater benefits for business customers.

I believe that from this year onwards, we will begin to witness a rapid acceleration in the development and deployment of AI and physical physics systems in various sectors. This rapid evolution will undoubtedly bring both excitement and fear. As with any emerging technology, progress will not be linear. There will be obstacles, unexpected challenges, and initial implementations that may be beyond expectations.

However, history has shown us that transformative technologies, from radio and television to the Internet and smartphones, have continually reshaped our world in ways we could not have originally imagined. New industries emerged, new roles were created, and while some jobs became obsolete, new opportunities emerged. This decade will be defined by the rise of AI, and it is essential to approach this transition with an inquisitive and open mindset and a critical perspective, embracing the potential while proactively addressing the challenges.

The rise of agentic AI and physical AI presents both unprecedented opportunities and significant challenges. The future of work, business and society is inextricably linked to the advancement of these technologies. By embracing these technologies responsibly and strategically, focusing on ethical development, investing in workforce training and establishing strong regulatory frameworks, we can unlock a future of unprecedented prosperity, innovation and human potential . This journey will require constant adaptation, collaboration and a commitment to ensure that the benefits of AI are shared equally across society.