Photo By: Igor Omilaev
For decades, the IT services industry has worked in a fairly simple way. Companies needed help with technology, so they hired outside firms to provide it.
Consultants designed systems. Engineers built them. Outsourced teams maintained them. Employees handled repetitive digital tasks and helped keep businesses running.
Artificial intelligence is starting to change that model.
The latest development is known as agentic AI. Unlike traditional AI tools that mainly answer questions or create content, AI agents can be designed to complete tasks, make decisions and take actions with limited human involvement.
That could have a major impact on the IT services industry.
If AI agents can perform work that companies once paid teams of people to do, the industry may need to rethink what it sells and how it charges customers.
The focus could shift from paying for people’s time to paying for the results that technology delivers.
From automation to action
Businesses have been automating work for years.
Companies already use software to process invoices, answer basic customer questions, monitor computer systems and move information between applications.
Agentic AI takes this idea a step further.
Instead of simply completing one task, an AI agent can potentially work through a series of steps to reach a goal. It may be able to gather information, use different software systems, make decisions based on rules and take action without requiring a person to direct every step.
For example, an agent could be asked to investigate an IT problem. It might review system information, identify a possible cause, check previous incidents and recommend a solution. In some cases, it could also carry out part of the response.
That changes the role of an IT services company.
In the past, a company might have needed a large team of employees to perform these tasks. In the future, it may need a smaller team that designs, manages and monitors AI agents doing much of the work.
The big question is what customers will be willing to pay for.
Will the billable hour survive?
Many IT services companies have traditionally based their businesses around people and hours.
A project might require 50 consultants working for six months. The client pays for that expertise and time.
AI could challenge that model.
If an AI agent can complete work that previously required several employees, a client may no longer want to pay for the same number of hours.
Consider an IT support operation. A company might once have needed a large team to monitor systems and respond to routine problems. AI agents could potentially handle many of those tasks automatically.
The same could happen in software development, customer service and business process outsourcing.
This creates a difficult question for IT services companies. If customers need fewer people, how do providers continue to grow?
One answer could be a move toward outcome-based pricing.
Instead of charging mainly for the number of employees working on a project, companies could charge based on the results they deliver. An IT services provider might charge for managing a certain number of systems, resolving incidents or running a business process.
That would be a significant change for the industry.
More autonomy means more responsibility
There is also a major challenge with giving AI systems the ability to take action.
A chatbot that gives you a wrong answer can be frustrating.
An AI agent that makes a wrong business decision could be much more serious.
Imagine an AI system changing an important computer system, sending incorrect information to a customer or accessing data it should not see.
Companies therefore need rules around what AI agents can and cannot do.
They need to know which systems an agent can access. They need to decide when a human must approve an action. They also need records showing what an AI agent did and why.
This is where AI governance becomes increasingly important.
Aravind Parthasarathy, Head of Business at NewRocket, has written publicly about the challenges organizations face when adopting agentic AI, including questions around existing systems, governance and accountability.
His work reflects a broader issue facing businesses: adopting autonomous AI is not simply a technology decision. Companies also have to consider how these systems fit into existing processes and who remains responsible for their actions.
As companies give AI more responsibility, they will need stronger systems for controlling and monitoring it.
That could create a new opportunity for IT services companies.
The IT services company of the future
IT services companies may increasingly find themselves doing more than building software.
They could help businesses design AI agents, connect them to existing systems and make sure they operate safely.
This will not be easy.
Large companies often use hundreds or even thousands of different software systems. Some may be decades old. Others may have been heavily customized.
An AI agent needs to work with these systems while following the company’s security and compliance rules.
That means IT services providers will need more than AI expertise.
They will also need to understand cybersecurity, business processes, data, compliance and organizational change.
The companies that succeed may be those that can combine all of these skills.
What happens to IT workers?
One of the biggest questions is what agentic AI will mean for employees.
It would be easy to assume that AI agents will simply replace large numbers of IT workers.
The reality may be more complicated.
Some jobs and tasks will certainly become automated. But companies will also need people to design, manage, monitor and improve AI systems.
The skills that businesses want may change.
Instead of having large teams performing repetitive tasks, companies may have smaller teams overseeing AI systems that perform those tasks.
That could mean fewer workers in some areas and greater demand for highly skilled workers in others.
People who understand both technology and business could become particularly valuable.
For IT services companies, this could also change how they compete for talent. Technical skills will remain important, but employees who understand risk, business operations and how organizations actually work may become increasingly valuable.
A bigger change for businesses
The biggest impact of agentic AI may not be the technology itself.
It may be the way companies rethink how work gets done.
For years, businesses have used technology to improve processes that were originally designed for people.
AI agents could encourage companies to design some processes around AI from the beginning.
That could affect IT operations, customer service, finance, procurement and supply chains.
It could also change the relationship between businesses and their IT services providers.
The IT services company of the future may not be the company with the largest number of employees.
It may be the company that can help businesses manage a growing number of AI agents and make sure they deliver real business results.
Agentic AI is therefore more than another technology trend.
It could change what IT services companies sell, how they make money and what their employees do.
The companies that understand that change early may have a significant advantage as businesses move toward a more automated and increasingly autonomous future.
Alex Hamilton