Canadian organizations turning to AI agents: KPMG poll

While most Canadian organizations have adopted generative AI tools to help improve business processes, many are shifting their focus to agentic artificial intelligence to accelerate those gains, envisioning a future where AI agents work alongside employees to transform their business unlike any other technology.

A new KPMG in Canada survey of 252 business leaders shows most are planning near-term investments in agentic AI to gain a competitive edge, revolutionize operations, lower costs, increase efficiency and fill critical skills gaps.

Agentic AI systems can operate independently by using tools such as large language models to make decisions and perform tasks with minimal or no human intervention. AI agents can perform a variety of tasks independently, such as responding to customer inquiries, placing and tracking orders, building lead generation lists, and managing refunds.

Just over one quarter (27 per cent) of survey respondents have already deployed agentic AI in their organization, and nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) are either exploring use cases, actively experimenting with the technology or conducting pilot projects. More than half (57 per cent) plan to invest in or adopt agentic AI in the next six months, and 34 per cent within the next 12 months.

“Agentic AI is a nascent technology, but it’s the most transformative AI we’ve ever seen in human history to date. We are already seeing humans work alongside agents as organizations use the technology to fill critical skills gaps, boost productivity and efficiency. Using AI agents for repetitive tasks allows an organization to re-focus their workforce on the more critical work, such as strategy and innovation,” says Stephanie Terrill, Canadian Managing Partner for Digital and Transformation at KPMG in Canada.

“Almost nine in 10 Canadian business leaders see agentic AI as a top investment priority that will help their organizations gain a competitive edge – that’s a strong sign that this technology will fundamentally change the business landscape in Canada,” she adds.

Almost three quarters (72 per cent) of respondents said they were “very familiar” with the concept of agentic AI, but only two thirds (66 per cent) were “very familiar” with how the technology could be applied in their organization or industry.

“There’s a knowledge gap between business leaders’ understanding of agentic AI and how they can use it to their advantage. Awareness, education and real-life experimentation can help close that gap,” Ms. Terrill says. “We expect awareness of agentic AI to grow rapidly in the months ahead, and more Canadian organizations will continue to experiment with and invest in the technology – perhaps even more so than generative AI.”

Key survey highlights

• 27 per cent said their organizations have adopted or deployed agentic AI and have active use cases in their organization
  • 35 per cent are actively experimenting with agentic AI and have pilot projects and test use cases
  • 29 per cent are currently exploring agentic AI and potential use cases
  • 8 per cent hope to plan or explore/experiment uses cases with agentic AI
  • Only 1 per cent are not exploring agentic AI and don’t have any plans to
• 57 per cent plan to invest in or adopt agentic AI in the next six months
  • 34 per cent within the next 12 months
  • 6 per cent within the next 2 years
• 72 per cent said they were very familiar with the concept of agentic AI and 25 per cent were somewhat familiar
• 66 per cent said they were very familiar with agentic AI’s potential applications in their organization or industry and 31 per cent were somewhat familiar
• 88 per cent agreed adopting agentic AI will help my organization be more competitive, with 58 per cent agreeing strongly
• 86 per cent said agentic AI is a top investment priority for their organization

Top uses for agentic AI

As ranked #1 by respondents

Putting agentic AI to work

Respondents said they plan to deploy agentic AI in their organizations to improve efficiency in a number of areas, including customer service, cybersecurity, compliance and regulatory management, communications and accounting.

“With generative AI, organizations deployed chatbots to respond to customer inquiries about refunds. In the era of agentic AI, those chatbots not only respond to queries for refunds, they issue those refunds quickly,” says Ms. Terrill.

Respondents said the biggest benefits they expect to gain from agentic AI include faster and better access to information, better decision-making and increased productivity. Respondents said the top challenges or barriers they anticipate in implementing agentic AI include cybersecurity/privacy concerns, data quality and the cost to deploy the technology.

Agentic AI’s benefits and challenges

A majority of respondents (63 per cent) said they expect agentic AI to boost their organization’s profitability between 5 and 15 per cent, while 58 per cent said they expect the technology to reduce operating costs by a similar amount.

Gary Filan, KPMG’s AI Lead in Canada says the most effective way to yield more value from agentic AI should be by incorporating it into existing and new applications, rather than isolated use cases.

“Standalone AI agents can help businesses automate tasks in a certain area, but organizations can yield more value from agentic AI by incorporating the technology across software applications. Integrated agents that can coordinate tasks across various workflows and business functions will help companies move beyond simple task automation to more dynamic business processes and workflows; that’s a major shift that can boost productivity and profitability significantly,” he says.

Agentic AI’s financial impact

As ranked #1 by respondents

A workforce shift

While most respondents agreed agentic AI would bring value to their organizations, more than half (55 per cent) said their workforce is not ready to work with or alongside AI agents, and nearly nine in 10 (89 per cent) said their organization will need to invest in significant education, upskilling and workforce training to understand agentic AI’s capabilities before adopting it.

Nearly all (92 per cent) respondents said agentic AI will help their organization save costs by making human-led processes and workflows quicker and more efficient, while 89 per cent agreed agentic AI will allow their organization to fill a labour or skills gap.

Agentic AI’s ability to make decisions on its own has led to concerns that the technology will replace humans, and business leaders acknowledged this in their survey responses: eight in 10 (82 per cent) said agentic AI will help their organization reduce headcount, while nearly three quarters (72 per cent) said there is concern among their employees that agentic AI will replace them and/or other business teams and functions.

“While it may be tempting for some organizations to use agentic AI to reduce labour costs, there are other more significant costs associated with reducing headcount – including loss of institutional knowledge, reputational damage, and employee morale and loyalty. There are ways to strategically reorganize the workforce around AI to optimize headcount and create a flexible, technology-enabled workforce for the future,” says Mr. Filan.

About the survey

KPMG in Canada surveyed 252 Canadian businesses from February 28 to March 5, 2025, using Sago’s premier research panel. 72 per cent of respondents identified as business owners and 28 per cent are senior level decision makers (C-suite, board member, executive, VP/Senior mgmt.). 16 per cent of respondents are in banking and capital markets; 15 per cent in industrial manufacturing; 15 per cent in technology, media and telecommunications; 12 per cent in consumer, retail and leisure; remaining respondents are spread out across other industries. 22 per cent of respondents’ organizations reported annual revenues of $50M-$99.9 million; 19 per cent reported between $100M and $299.9 million; 10 per cent between $300M and $499.9 million; 13 per cent between $500M and $699.9 million; 10 per cent between $700 million and $899.9 million; 12 per cent between $900 million and$1 billion; and 14 per cent reported annual revenues over $1 billion.