Corporate America won't shut up about agentic AI, or AI in general

Boardrooms have been consumed by AI for a while now, with executives increasingly talking about the two-letter technology more than the results they’re there to discuss.

According to Bloomberg data, S&P 500 executives said the word “AI” nearly 5,000 times on S&P 500 calls in the first quarter alone, outpacing the word “earnings” by more than 1,200 mentions.

But for C-suite folks looking to juice their stock price, it's not enough to be talking about chatbots or generative AI. The specific term you have to work into your conference call is agentic AI. That is, systems that don't just answer your questions but actually do things for you, from booking a meeting to filing an expense report.

Pointing to OpenClaw — the viral open-source tool that lets anyone build and run AI agents — Huang called it “the new computer,” adding that “every company in the world today needs to have an OpenClaw strategy.” Nvidia, for its part, unveiled its own NemoClaw on Monday, a more secure, enterprise-ready version that allows companies to deploy agents safely.

Wall Street likes talk of "agents" because the implication is fewer employees. Just recently, we've seen a big round of layoffs at Block, 10% of jobs slashed at Atlassian, and reports of huge cuts at Meta, with AI-powered efficiency gains promised in each case.

Mastercard recently launched an agentic AI tool to provide small businesses with C-suite level solutions. Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase’s chief analytics officer told CNBC last September that the bank’s end goal is one where “every process is powered by AI agents,” with internal demos already generating a full investment banking deck in 30 seconds. Major retailers have also jumped in, with Walmart, Target, and Home Depot having partnered with tech providers to deploy agentic AI tools across their operations, from pricing to inventory. PepsiCo wants to be completely agentic first.

The Takeaway

Even the companies most bruised by the agentic AI wave are trying to embrace it. After a massive sell-off in software stocks earlier this year on fears that AI agents could displace traditional Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) models, Nvidia said Monday it’s teaming up with a slate of software firms — including Adobe, SAP, and Salesforce — to build and run AI agents using the chipmaker’s Agent Toolkit platform. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Or at least ask your AI agent what to do next. Hu