AI Agent Adoption Expected to Surge 327% Globally by 2027

Salesforce’s latest research, which surveyed 200 global human resource executives, reveals that digital labour isn’t just a trend — it’s a business strategy revolution. With AI agent adoption expected to surge by 327% over the next two years, delivering a productivity gain of 30%, HR leaders are reimagining how organisations structure and skill their workforce. The findings show that CHROs anticipate redeploying nearly a quarter of their workforce worldwide as digital labour becomes a core part of business operations.

The study also highlighted a growing emphasis on AI reskilling programmes. More than four in five HR leaders are already reskilling, or planning to reskill, their employees to remain competitive in a market shaped by AI agents. Most also agree that soft skills — such as relationship building and collaboration — will become even more important as humans increasingly work alongside agents.

Why it matters: HR leaders broadly agree that within the next five years, the workforce will comprise both humans and AI agents. Yet, 85% say their organisations have yet to implement agentic AI, and 73% report that employees don’t currently understand how digital labour will impact their roles. As agentic AI reshapes the workplace — and the skills required to succeed — understanding how HR leaders are maintaining organisational resilience has never been more crucial.

Salesforce perspective: “We’re in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime transformation of work with digital labour, unlocking new levels of productivity, autonomy and agency at a pace never previously imagined,” stated Nathalie Scardino, President and Chief People Officer at Salesforce. “Every industry must redesign roles, reskill and redeploy talent — and every employee will need to develop new human, agent and business skills to thrive in the digital labour revolution.”

Customer perspective: “The survey indicates that today’s generation of leaders will be the last to manage workforces made up solely of humans,” said Greg Shewmaker, CEO of r.Potential. “Business leaders are under mounting pressure to guide their organisations through rising uncertainty and complexity. We’ve reached a pivotal moment for the future of work, where AI adoption must be embraced with a clear framework for human–AI agent collaboration.”

HR leaders believe digital labour is the future, and its integration is essential to their role

CHROs plan to reskill and redeploy employees to work alongside agents

With 85% of businesses yet to implement agentic AI, CHROs are prioritising near-term AI initiatives — particularly in IT and research & development

As digital labour strategies take shape, soft skills and relationship-focused roles will gain greater value

Despite the urgency of digital labour adoption, many HR leaders are still in the early stages of workforce preparation