Modern CIOs and their business peers face a seemingly unending line of innovations. The latest of these hyped emerging technologies is agentic AI, which promises to change how we work and how our businesses operate. So, how can business leaders deal with this change?
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In a global survey of 1,500 companies coupled with extensive research, Accenture identified three tenants that organizations should follow to get 60% higher revenue growth rates with 40% higher margins than their peers:
- Build an industry-leading digital core to reach the top quartile in capabilities specific to your industry and tuned to your organization
- Boost strategic investments in innovation by 6% or more each year
- Balance technical debt liabilities with investments for the future, targeting about 15% of the IT budget for tech debt management
Accenture’s research noted the significant impact of generative AI (Gen AI) on almost every aspect of technology and business. Gen AI helps companies move from traditional instruction-driven, predefined systems that rarely change to intention-driven systems powered by AI that mimic human-like thinking and can serve as digital employees — thinking, learning, and taking action.
The report states that systems built with AI agents in the future will be able to process complex algorithms, manage large data volumes, learn from patterns, predict outcomes, and automate decisions.
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So, how can companies build a reinvention-ready digital core? Let’s begin by defining the digital core. A digital core is the critical technology capability driving continuous reinvention, enabling major performance boosts.
The three engineering principles for building a modern, adaptable digital core are Architect with intent, Connect the dots, and Thrive with ecosystems. Leading companies building a reinvention-ready digital core adopt these ACT principles two times more than others.
Accenture found that following these principles can help organizations build or evolve to an industry-leading digital core, boost innovation budgets with efficiency gains, and balance technical debt by anchoring to large ecosystems, even as the company explores leading-edge innovation at speed.
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Architect with intent
Principle: Evolve business and technology to a modern cognitive architecture that mimics human-like thinking and learning – always on, always listening, and always learning. Dynamically adapt to changing user engagement, context, and data, using AI as the central orchestrator of processes. This approach allows systems to flex to changing business needs, moving from instruction-driven to intent-driven systems.
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To reach this level of adaptability, industry leaders must adopt an AI-first mindset. They must view agent-driven AI systems as tools that reinvent how they operate their business, and not just retrofit them into existing processes. This approach means evolving to an architecture with built-in intelligence and context, where AI agents can reason, plan, and work alongside humans.
Accenture found that 76% of IT executives identify IT as the primary area for Gen AI transformation over the next three years. To get the most value, business leaders must apply automation thoughtfully and focus on no-regret moves while investing in strategic, higher-value bets.
Accentrue’s advice to CEO and CIOs: “To stay competitive, you must lead the charge in adopting AI-first, intent-driven architectures by integrating AI into core processes. Some companies are already making progress on this journey, while others risk falling behind if competitors advance their capabilities and gain market share first. Focus on real-time insights and automating decisions while aligning technology and teams to drive faster innovation.”
Connect the dots
Principle: Seamlessly connect systems of record (transaction platforms) and systems of insights (analytical platforms) to enable real-time analytics for hyper-personalized actions to drive business outcomes, including revenue generation and customer engagement. Maintain a continuous flow of data between these platforms to drive ongoing optimization, self-reflection, and better decision-making processes.
Accenture recommends companies begin by integrating and rationalizing all packaged and custom enterprise applications into higher-order transactional platforms with clear purposes, well-defined interfaces, and open APIs.
The importance of a data strategy cannot be over-emphasized. Accenture advises companies to create a repository, like an index, for integrating structured and unstructured data from the enterprise, external sources, customer insights, and codified domain expertise to enable accurate, responsive, and context-aware decisions in real-time.
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“The goal is to create interconnected systems where data flows seamlessly across the organization, regardless of the functions or applications, to support enterprise-wide systems, such as Salesforce Einstein for CRM,” said Accenture.
Accentrue’s advice to CEOs and CIOs: Many companies have distinct CIO and chief data officer (CDO) roles. Both CIOs and CDOs need to work together to connect AI-driven analytics with business systems, to make operations easier, and to reduce manual processes. CEOs should align business strategies with these changes, ensuring AI optimizes key operations.
Thrive with ecosystems
Principle: Create differentiation in products and processes by deploying leading-edge innovations faster from startups and bigger players via larger ecosystems. Benefit from the security, reliability, and integration of large anchor partners.
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With larger ecosystem partners like AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Salesforce, and Workday now providing access to early-stage innovations through marketplaces and partnerships, businesses no longer need to wait for the commercial stability of new solutions. Enterprises are increasingly adopting a fluid approach across multiple large ecosystems to integrate a broader array of vendors and technologies.
Accentrue’s advice to CEOs and CIOs/CSOs: Work as equal partners in selecting and leveraging major ecosystems to integrate next-generation technologies. This collaboration ensures that ecosystem choices align with both technical and business priorities. Adopting a cross-ecosystem approach allows executives to access innovations from startups and established players, minimizing risks and technical debt. Companies like OpenAI and Veeva demonstrate how strategic ecosystem use drives faster innovation.
Get ready to adopt agents
Agentic AI is the top strategic technology trend for 2025, and companies will invest heavily in AI agents as the world of work changes forever. Recent Salesforce research suggested one-third of consumers would prefer working with AI agents for faster service. Even though most CIOs believed AI was a game-changer, only 11% had fully implemented the technology, citing security and data infrastructure as their top impediment.
The pressure to adopt AI in business is so strong that one could argue that CIOs must also serve as chief AI officers. To learn more about building a reinvention-ready digital core in the age of AI, visit the Accenture research here.
