AI Agents: Shaping the Future of Workforce Strategy

How AI Demands Innovative Approaches to Talent Decisions

AI-powered digital labor—specifically AI agents—is rapidly becoming a reality, shaking up traditional approaches to workforce planning. As digital workers integrate into the workforce, companies must shift their focus from simply filling roles to securing skills and deciding whether humans or digital entities are best suited for certain tasks. This shift poses significant implications for human resources leaders and their business stakeholders as they transition to a hybrid human-digital workforce to supercharge both routine and complex tasks.

How AI Agents are Redefining Workforce Dynamics

85% of organizations have already started implementing AI into their business operations, with 47% leveraging AI for workforce planning and management.ⁱ

In comparison to ChatGPT tools, AI agents are designed to collaborate directly with human talent or function autonomously for specific tasks. AI agents act independently in pursuit of goals, whether finding information, analyzing data, or running end-to-end processes.

As AI agents mature and build upon LLM models, platforms, and data infrastructure, the workforce must adapt to balance human and digital roles and activities, necessitating a refined approach to talent management. Organizations will need not only to orchestrate work across the human-AI continuum, but to evolve their talent strategies, approach to upskilling, performance measurement, workforce planning, and other traditionally human-centered talent processes to span both the human and digital labor constructs.

Our Mystro platform is designed to help organizations understand the impacts of AI agents on their workforce and assist in capturing value based on these insights. In our work with clients, our teams leverage Mystro to redefine roles, reshape organizational structures, and quantify the value derived from human and AI agent collaboration.

Following are three key implications inherent in moving to a talent strategy that fully addresses agentic-AI disruption:

Implication 1 | Intentionally orchestrate work across human and digital labor, keeping interaction models top of mind

Integrating AI agents into the organizational structure requires meticulous workforce analysis, where strategic workforce planning must define the roles AI agents will play. Organizations must be intentional about redefining roles and the structure, size, and shape of their workforce. This involves considering the interplay of AI agents between people, technology, and leadership.

Companies reported an average increase in productivity by 35% after integrating AI agents into their regular workforce operations.ⁱⁱ

Organizations will need to strategically orchestrate work between human and digital labor, with roles evolving as employees learn to collaborate with AI agents. To address current needs, adoption strategies must prioritize upskilling and training, while effective change management strategies will foster acceptance of the new hybrid workforce. Viewing the leverage of AI agents through an “outcomes-focused�� lens will ensure a meaningful return on investment. Continuous learning platforms and a culture that promotes psychological safety and experimentation are essential, supported by leadership alignment and efforts to build trust and confidence. AI agents can also help assess learning maturity levels and track workforce progress, ensuring continuous improvement.

Implication 2 | Manage digital talent in the same way you manage human talent, including onboarding, learning, upskilling, and performance measurement

Since AI agents function as team members, they should be included in the organizational chart with clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and reporting lines based on their structure and capabilities. Organizations should manage digital talent using the same processes applied to human talent, including onboarding, learning, upskilling, and performance measurement. Designing a digital workforce requires a holistic strategy that includes new methods for organizational design, culture, teamwork, and trust. Human resources should manage agent performance and engagement much like their human counterparts, focusing on optimizing human and digital workforce collaboration to deliver higher-touch services.

62% of organizations are using AI to identify skill gaps and develop targeted upskilling programs to fill those gaps.ⁱⁱⁱ

Understanding the impact of AI agents on the workforce and reshaping roles accordingly is essential. Bear in mind that resistance may arise as employees adjust to working side by side with AI agents, so creating a robust change management program is also critical.

The Workforce Intelligence Engine uses advanced analytics, AI, and machine learning to integrate both digital and human talent into strategic workforce planning. This approach anticipates talent challenges, optimizes global hiring, and enhances organizational agility with integrated AI agents.

Implication 3 | Workforce planning must become continuous to address dynamic needs and digital labor

In the age of human-technology collaboration, any potential AI agent investment should prioritize the workforce impact. Since technology is changing so rapidly, companies can no longer make five-year plans; instead, they must manage their workforce in real time and reflect their evolving needs in a continuous feedback loop. As AI agents continue to evolve in maturity, there will be a need for continuous course corrections across the human-digital workforce, including budgeting, critical skills, and even the size of the organization. The ability to adapt continuously will be critical for maintaining a strategic, forward-looking workforce strategy.

69% of companies plan to integrate AI-powered continuous learning platforms within the next two years to ensure their workforce remains agile and adaptive.^iv

Agents themselves will deliver real-time performance insights on how the human-digital workforce is performing. These insights may include productivity levels, task efficiency, employee engagement, skill utilization, and collaboration metrics. For example, AI agents can provide data on which tasks are best handled by digital labor versus human talent, how well employees are adapting to new technologies, or where skill gaps might exist. Organizations can use these insights to evaluate workforce needs, adjust talent management strategies, reassign resources as needed, and refine their workforce planning processes. This continuous adaptation and real-time responsiveness will help accelerate the pace of workforce planning and create a more agile and resilient workforce.

The ��㣨Leyu�� AI Workforce methodology helps ensure integration of AI agents into all aspects of workforce management. This approach rethinks traditional talent management practices, recognizing AI agents as integral team members.

77% of executives believe that AI will necessitate significant investment in upskilling and reskilling programs for their workforce.^v

The adoption of AI agents is not just a technological advancement but a strategic imperative that will transform how work gets done. Organizations that embrace and execute this imperative with the right change management strategy will achieve significant advancements in workforce effectiveness, productivity, and adoption. Leaders must thoughtfully integrate AI agents, leveraging their potential to create a dynamic, adaptive, and resilient workforce that prioritizes human capabilities and drives innovation.

The Future of Work: Humans and AI Agents

As we look into the future, organizations will experience profound changes driven by AI agents, where we envision:

Humans and AI agents collaborating: AI will handle routine tasks and collaborate with humans on strategic and creative efforts.
Significant productivity gains: Organizations will witness significant productivity gains, as AI agents enable continuous operations, better decision-making through real-time insights, and automation of complex tasks.
New business models: New business models and revenue streams will emerge, operational costs will be optimized, and customer experiences will be personalized and enhanced.
Agility and adaptability: To remain competitive, organizations will need to be agile and adaptive, quickly integrating new technologies and continuously innovating to meet market demands.

Now is the time to act and position your organization for long-term success. Embrace the future with ��㣨Leyu�� and unlock the full potential of AI agents in your workforce.

Working with ��㣨Leyu��

��㣨Leyu�� helps organizations implement advanced workforce strategies by leveraging extensive expertise, proprietary data, and robust analytics tools. Customized AI agents from ��㣨Leyu�� utilize extensive datasets to offer actionable intelligence for workforce planning and optimization. By partnering with ��㣨Leyu��, organizations can effectively conduct talent opportunity assessments, securing the right skills to help meet strategic needs.

Footnotes:

ⁱ��㣨Leyu�� AI Pulse Survey Q1, April 2025.
ⁱⁱ ��㣨Leyu�� AI Pulse Survey Q1, April 2025.
ⁱⁱⁱ ��㣨Leyu�� AI Pulse Survey Q1, April 2025.
^iv ��㣨Leyu�� AI Pulse Survey Q1, April 2025.
^v ��㣨Leyu�� AI Pulse Survey Q1, April 2025.

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According to senior buyers of consulting services who participated in the Source study, Perceptions of Consulting in the US in 2024,��㣨Leyu�� ranked No. 1 for quality in AI advice and implementation services.��

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