Tracking
Predictions
Claims we track over time about how organizations and technology are changing. None of these are settled. We update as we learn from the market and from people inside organizations.
AI Workforce Management Becomes a New Enterprise Category
Organizations may eventually manage hundreds or thousands of AI workers alongside human employees. If so, we'd expect demand for platforms that provision, monitor, govern, and optimize AI workers across the enterprise.
What would validate this?
- •Enterprises begin tracking the number of AI agents deployed.
- •New budget lines emerge for AI workforce management.
- •Vendors position themselves around operating AI workers rather than AI assistants.
Enterprises May Build Internal AI Platform Teams
We suspect organizations will establish dedicated teams for AI infrastructure, governance, and operations, similar to how platform engineering became standard, owning an internal AI platform rather than scattered AI applications.
What would validate this?
- •Job postings for AI Platform Engineering, AI Operations, or similar functions become common.
- •CIOs and CTOs describe AI as enterprise infrastructure rather than isolated projects.
Systems of Record Are No Longer Enough
Traditional enterprise software may continue to store business data, but competitive advantage could shift toward systems that coordinate and execute work. Organizations might increasingly evaluate software by how much work it autonomously completes, not just how well it records information.
What would validate this?
- •Enterprise buying criteria shift from reporting capabilities to execution capabilities.
- •Vendors compete on autonomous outcomes rather than workflow automation.
Organizational Memory Becomes Strategic Infrastructure
AI workers may struggle to operate effectively with fragmented knowledge. Enterprises might invest in persistent organizational memory that provides consistent context across people, agents, and applications, as foundational as identity or cloud infrastructure.
What would validate this?
- •Companies create dedicated initiatives around enterprise knowledge architecture.
- •Organizational memory becomes a standalone software category rather than a feature.
Identity Expands Beyond Humans
Identity systems may need to manage AI workers alongside employees, contractors, applications, and service accounts. Permissions, accountability, auditability, and trust could extend to autonomous actors.
What would validate this?
- •Identity providers introduce first-class support for AI agents.
- •Security teams begin measuring and governing AI identities.
AI Governance Moves from Compliance to Operations
Governance might shift from approving AI usage to becoming an operational capability that continuously monitors behavior, risk, cost, and performance across large numbers of AI workers.
What would validate this?
- •Enterprises deploy continuous AI monitoring platforms.
- •Governance budgets shift from policy creation to operational tooling.
Human Work Shifts Up the Value Chain
Humans may spend less time on repeatable operational tasks and more on defining goals, exercising judgment, building relationships, and handling exceptions. The manager's role could increasingly become designing systems rather than assigning tasks.
What would validate this?
- •Job descriptions emphasize orchestration, oversight, and system design.
- •Operational metrics increasingly measure leverage rather than individual output.
A New Enterprise Buying Center Emerges
Large organizations might establish a dedicated function for deploying and operating AI across the enterprise. This could evolve from IT, engineering, or security, but may eventually become a distinct capability with its own budget and executive ownership.
What would validate this?
- •New executive titles become common (e.g., Head of AI Platform, VP of AI Operations).
- •Procurement processes distinguish AI infrastructure from traditional SaaS.
Enterprise Value Shifts Toward AI Infrastructure
As foundation models improve and become more accessible, sustainable enterprise value might accrue to companies providing the infrastructure that lets organizations employ AI at scale, safely, reliably, and efficiently. The long-term winners may own operational infrastructure more than individual AI applications.
What would validate this?
- •Infrastructure companies consistently achieve larger enterprise contracts than single-purpose AI applications.
- •Customers consolidate around a small number of foundational AI platforms.
Enterprises May Operate Hybrid Workforces
The organization of the future may not be fully autonomous. It might consist of humans and AI workers operating together, each contributing where they create the most value. The defining challenge could be designing organizations where both can work together effectively, not replacing people with AI.
What would validate this?
- •Enterprises report AI worker counts alongside human workforce metrics.
- •Organizational design frameworks explicitly incorporate both human and AI roles.