According to a new report from Gartner, more than 40% of agentic AI projects will be scrapped by the end of 2027, driven by escalating costs, unclear business value, and security concerns. The findings are based on a January 2025 survey of 3,412 webinar attendees.
The study found varying levels of investment in agentic AI:
- 19% of organizations had made significant investments
- 42% had taken a conservative approach
- 8% had no investments
- 31% were either undecided or taking a “wait and see” stance
A key issue identified in the report was the rise of “agent washing”—where vendors label existing tools such as chatbots, AI assistants, or RPA solutions as agentic AI, without delivering true autonomous decision-making capabilities. Gartner estimates that only about 130 vendors out of thousands in the space offer substantive agentic AI solutions.
Despite these setbacks, Gartner maintains that agentic AI holds strong potential for the future of enterprise automation. By 2028, the firm predicts:
- 15% of day-to-day work decisions will be made autonomously by AI agents, up from 0% in 2024
- 33% of enterprise software applications will include agentic AI capabilities, compared to less than 1% in 2024
The report suggests that while the initial phase may see high project failure rates, the long-term market for agentic AI remains promising as the technology matures and adoption frameworks improve.
Quick Take
Gartner’s report paints a classic hype cycle scenario for agentic AI—early overpromises leading to short-term disillusionment. The rise of “agent washing” reflects both market immaturity and vendor opportunism. Still, the predicted rise in real autonomous decision-making by 2028 indicates a maturing space with long-term viability, especially as enterprises look to automate complex tasks at scale.
