Agent economy has arrived: Can India leapfrog the platform era?

Not way back, transformation meant thick slide decks, lengthy timelines and consultants advising from the sidelines. They introduced frameworks, not outcomes. Right this moment, in a world formed by generative and agentic AI, companies are not on the lookout for advisors. They’re on the lookout for co-creators: companions whose contribution is outlined not via scale of individuals, however via scale of intelligence and a capability to quickly ship tangible enterprise worth.Agentic AI makes this shift doable. These methods do not simply help however act, be taught and adapt inside enterprise workflows. They minimise handbook intervention and combine instantly into enterprise environments. From onboarding and compliance to reconciliation and buyer help, brokers execute autonomously, repeatedly and intelligently. Importantly, this is not the top of platforms. It is their evolution. Agentic AI thrives on sturdy digital infrastructure, information pipelines and system integration. Collectively, platforms and brokers type clever environments the place actions are automated and outcomes accelerated.

This modifications the sport for India.

India led the platform period, powered by deep engineering expertise and world supply scale. Now, that expertise base turns into a launchpad. The agent economy rewards not simply scale, however velocity, accuracy and intelligence and requires a reinvention of how know-how is constructed, deployed and delivered.

India’s historic power is application-level innovation. In an age of agentic AI, that is the essential degree – past chipset and enormous language mannequin innovation – the place enterprise acceleration is unlocked and organisations can create the best worth. It is the place agentic AI comes alive: embedded in enterprise workflows, customised for real-world processes and scaled with precision.

With a world high-end engineering spine rooted in India, Publicis Sapient is deploying agentic AI to rework how companies function. Our proprietary Bodhi platform allows fast agent deployment, whereas Sapient Slingshot and CoreAI, constructed on Bodhi, rework enterprise software program growth and advertising, respectively. Our India-based groups not solely write code however orchestrate advanced enterprise environments to make brokers efficient – in use circumstances from autonomous onboarding options for monetary companies to brokers that handle regulatory compliance for pharmaceutical corporations and streamline logistics for retailers.We have constructed agent-driven platforms that minimize handbook reconciliation by 80%, and helped Fortune 500 corporations develop AI-native capabilities that evolve in actual time. Our SPEED capabilities-strategy, product, expertise, engineering, and information with AI-embeds brokers into enterprise structure the place they act, be taught and scale.To understand India’s potential within the agent economic system, three key shifts are wanted.First, transfer from integration to orchestration. Brokers cannot perform in silos. To be autonomous, they have to be embedded inside enterprise logic and workflows-not layered onto legacy methods. Publicis Sapient’s strategy to system orchestration, rooted in area experience and agile supply, reveals how India-based groups can lead in constructing intelligent enterprises.

Second, rethink how worth is measured. Within the agent economic system, the normal time-and-materials mannequin provides solution to value-based engagements. Success is outlined by decreasing onboarding time, enhancing compliance accuracy, and driving sooner time to worth via autonomous execution.

Third, count on velocity to match ambition. The period of 18-month timelines is over. AI-native delivery fashions enable for fast prototyping, refinement, and deployment – in weeks, not quarters.

The rise of agentic AI is not simply technological. It is philosophical. It raises the query ‘what can AI brokers do on their very own and the place do people add probably the most distinctive worth?’ This mindset shift lets us redeploy human expertise towards higher-value duties: technique, judgment, creativity and orchestration.

India is uniquely positioned to steer this future. It has the dimensions, the expertise and the mindset. If India commits to constructing the agentic layer of the enterprise, it will not simply experience the subsequent wave – it should outline it.

(Nigel Vaz is CEO of Publicis Sapient. He will probably be talking at The Economic Times World Leaders Forum in New Delhi)