AI isn’t just transforming our tools, but the way we think about tools, from something we merely use to something more akin to a partner; a technology we delegate tasks to and even collaborate with. Indeed, the notion of autonomous AI systems – i.e., systems that can execute tasks, either in support or on behalf of humans, with various degrees of autonomy – is rapidly emerging as a defining design pattern of the era: one or more models (like the Large Action Models I’ve discussed recently) empowered with the ability to leverage external tools, access up-to-date information beyond their training data, and reachable across an organization via APIs, all united by a conversational interface that allows them to interact with users through natural language. And the pace is quickening—by 2028, in fact, Gartner predicts that interactions with agents will account for a full third of all generative AI use within the enterprise.