Agentic AI: The Excitement, the Anxiety, and the Leadership Gap

A deep dive inspired by EY’s latest Agentic AI in the Workplace report

By Oscar González Iñiguez (OGI) – Founder & CEO, Accéder

Artificial Intelligence has finally entered its Agentic phase — where AI systems go beyond simple tasks to act, reason, and decide alongside humans.

And according to a major new study by Ernst & Young LLP (EY US), employees are not resisting this evolution. In fact, 84% of workers are eager to embrace Agentic AI in their roles.

But here’s the paradox:

More than half (56%) simultaneously worry about their own job security working alongside AI agents.

This duality — excitement and fear — defines the modern workplace. It’s not a technical issue; it’s a leadership and communication challenge.

1. The Enthusiasm–Anxiety Paradox

EY’s Agentic AI in the Workplace Survey paints a fascinating picture of readiness colliding with uncertainty. Conducted with over 1,100 U.S. desk workers across six major industries, the findings reveal:

• 84% are eager to adopt Agentic AI.

• 86% already report productivity gains from using it.

• Yet 56% worry about job security, and 51% fear obsolescence.

This contradiction is sharpest among non-managers, where 65% fear being replaced — compared to 48% of managers.

Meanwhile, the vast majority (85%) are learning about AI tools on their own time, and 83% say their knowledge is self-taught.

That means employees are ready, but organizations are unprepared to guide them.

As EY’s Global AI Leader, Dan Diasio, summarizes: 

“Poor communication breeds operational uncertainty and inertia. To harness employee enthusiasm, leaders must articulate their complete AI roadmap — from ethics to training.”

2. Human Readiness: Confidence Meets Confusion

Despite anxiety, one fact stands out: Agentic AI is already working. EY reports that 86% of employees using AI agents have seen clear productivity improvements.

However, internal obstacles persist:

• 54% feel they are falling behind peers in AI proficiency.

• 61% feel overwhelmed by the constant flow of new tools.

• 53% of people managers are unsure they can effectively supervise AI-augmented teams.

• And 63% of non-managers hesitate to become managers for fear of leading AI-enabled teams.

This reveals a new kind of digital fatigue: not from resistance, but from information overload and leadership silence.

As Kim Billeter, EY’s Global People Consulting Leader, notes:  “We are at a critical juncture where leaders must provide structured and comprehensive training. This isn't just a technology rollout; it’s a human transformation.”

3. Generational Perspectives: Four Ways to Lead the Future

EY’s research also highlights a generational divide among managers:

• Gen Z managers are the most optimistic but also the most anxious — 88% believe their roles will change entirely due to AI.

  
  

• Millennials show the highest levels of worry (72%) about managing AI-augmented teams but are the most self-taught generation.

  
  

• Gen X managers are the most confident, seeing collaboration between humans and agents as “the best of both worlds.”

• Baby Boomers emphasize ethics and responsibility, calling for stronger guidelines for senior leaders.

This diversity of mindset suggests that leadership in the Agentic AI era requires intergenerational empathy — leveraging each group’s strengths to balance optimism, caution, and experience.

4. The Missing Link: Communication, Training, and Clarity

EY’s survey reveals a simple but powerful truth: clear communication multiplies success.

Organizations that openly communicate their AI strategy achieve 30-point higher productivity gains than those that do not.

Leadership Factor	Without Communication	With Communication
Employees who say AI boosts productivity	62%	92%
Employees actively using AI agents	39%	66%
Employees eager to embrace AI	69%	87%

These numbers confirm what many leaders overlook: the real performance gap isn’t in algorithms — it’s in alignment.

When employees understand the AI strategy, they adopt faster, perform better, and fear less.

“The pace of Agentic AI adoption is creating immense growth potential,” says Whitt Butler,

EY Americas Vice Chair – Consulting.

“But leaders must execute a human-centric strategy focused on change management and confidence-building.”

5. What This Means for Enterprise Leaders

This report reinforces something we see every day at Accéder through TITAN, our Agentic AI platform:

Employees are ready — it’s leadership, communication, and integration that determine success, along with being data-ready.

TITAN is built precisely to close that readiness gap:

• Agents for specific functions (Supply Chain, Finance, Sales, Customer Care)

• Explainable reasoning, sourcing, and response quality controls to build trust and transparency

• Interactive onboarding GTP-style to train users rapidly and organically

• 100% private deployments that protect enterprise data

When leaders introduce AI with structure, transparency, and empathy, fear dissolves — and Agentic AI becomes a catalyst for performance rather than anxiety.

6. The Leadership Imperative

The EY study makes one message clear:

The future of work will be led by humans — empowered, not replaced, by intelligent agents.

Agentic AI is not just another corporate trend. It’s a new layer of enterprise intelligence — one that merges human decision-making with digital foresight.

But without communication, training, and ethical clarity, enthusiasm turns into inertia. That’s why leadership matters more than ever.

At Accéder, we believe this is not just an AI revolution — it’s a human transformation.

And leaders who embrace that duality will build companies that don’t just adapt to the future — they define it.