Global business leaders will make 2026 the year of the AI agent

In 2026, global business leaders are poised to embrace agentic AI, as evidenced by a survey of over 5,000 executives from the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, and Japan, which highlights the transformative potential of AI agents in business operations. With 69% of leaders expecting AI agents to significantly impact their businesses by the year's end and 25% already observing these changes, there's a clear shift towards prioritizing AI investments in workflow automation and autonomous decision-making. AI agents are not only seen as tools but as orchestrators of existing technologies, eliminating the productivity drag from switching between multiple systems. This shift also extends to language and localization, with real-time voice translation becoming essential for international business, as showcased by DeepL Voice's ability to streamline multilingual meetings. Ultimately, AI is expected to elevate productivity, enabling businesses to grow by creating more roles than it replaces, thus fulfilling its promise of enhancing rather than replacing human work.