Why agentic AI belongs on every CEO’s 2026 roadmap

You know the ancient proverb: Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

For leaders, first-generation AI tools are like giving employees fish. Agentic AI, on the other hand, teaches them how to fish—truly empowering, and that empowerment lifts the entire organization. According to recent findings from McKinsey, nearly eight in ten companies report using gen AI, yet about the same number report no bottom-line impact. Agentic AI can help organizations achieve meaningful results.

AI agents are highly capable assistants with the ability to execute tasks independently. Equipped with artificial intelligence that simulates human reasoning, they can recognize problems, remember past interactions, and proactively take steps to get things done—whether that means knocking out tedious manual tasks or helping to generate innovative solutions. For CEOs juggling numerous responsibilities, agentic AI can be a powerful ally in simplifying decision-making and scaling impact. That’s why I believe it belongs on every CEO’s roadmap for 2026.

As CEO of a SaaS company grounded in automation, I’ve made it a priority to incorporate agentic AI into our everyday workflows. Here are three ways you can put it to work in your organization.

1. Take the effort out of scheduling

Starting with one of the most basic functions of any organization—and one that can easily become a time and energy vacuum—scheduling is perfect fodder for AI agents. And they go well beyond your typical AI-powered scheduling tool.

For starters, they’re adaptable. AI agents can monitor incoming data and requests, proactively adjust schedules, and notify the relevant parties when issues arise. Let’s say your team has a standing brainstorming session every Wednesday and a new client reaches out to request an intro meeting at the same time. Your agent can automatically respond with alternative time slots. On the other hand, if a client needs to connect on a time-sensitive issue, your agent can elevate the request to a human employee to decide whether rescheduling makes sense.

You can also personalize AI agents based on your unique needs and priorities, including past interactions. If, for example, your agent learns that you religiously protect time for deep-focus work first thing in the morning, it won’t keep proposing meetings then.

By delegating scheduling tasks, organizations—from the CEO to interns—free up time for higher-level priorities and more meaningful work. You can build your own agent, or get started with a ready-to-use scheduling assistant that offers agentic capabilities, like Reclaim.ai.

2. Facilitate idea generation and innovation

When we talk about AI and creativity, the conversation often stirs anxiety about artificial intelligence replacing human creativity. But agentic AI can help spark ideas for engagement, leadership development, and strategic initiatives. The goal is to cultivate the conditions in which these initiatives can thrive, not to replace the actual brainstorming or strategic thinking.

For example, you can create an ideation-focused AI agent and train it on relevant organizational context—performance data, KPIs, meeting notes, employee engagement data, culture touch points, and more. Your agent can continuously gather new information and update its internal knowledge.

When the time comes for a brainstorming or strategy session (which the agent can also proactively prompt), it can draw on this working organizational memory plus any other resources it can access, and tap generative AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini to generate themes, propose topics, and help guide the discussion. Meanwhile, leaders remain focused on evaluating ideas, decision-making, and execution.

3. Error-free progress updates and year-end recaps

While generative AI can be incredibly powerful, the issue remains that it is largely reactive, not proactive. When it comes to tracking performance, team KPIs, and organizational progress, manual check-ins are still required. As I’ve written before, manual tasks are subject to human error. Calendar alerts go unnoticed. Things slip through the cracks. Minor problems become big issues. 

One solution is to design an AI agent that can autonomously monitor your organization’s performance. Continuous, real-time oversight helps ensure processes run smoothly and that issues are flagged as soon as they arise. For example, if your company sells workout gear and sees a post–New Year surge in fitness resolutions—and demand for a specific product—an agent can track sales patterns and alert the team to inventory shortages. An AI agent can also independently generate reports, including year-end recaps that are critical for continued growth. 

Rather than waiting to be prompted by a human, they can do the work alone and elevate only the issues that require human judgment.

Agents have the potential to create real value for organizations. Importantly, leaders have to rethink workflows so AI agents are meaningfully integrated, fully liberating employees from rote, manual tasks and freeing them to focus on more consequential, inspiring work like strategy and critical thinking. I’ve found this leaves employees more energized, and the benefits continue to compound.