The speed at which agentic AI has spread throughout the workforce accelerated over the past year. 79% of companies are leveraging agentic AI. And though many have understandably criticized companies which have invested in AI without immediate bottom-line benefits—a phenomenon I call the “productivity J-curve”—agentic AI promises to drive true productivity gains, fueling further adoption.To understand the significance of the agentic AI shift for humans, we must deconstruct the nature of work itself. Almost every valuable task can be broken down into three distinct phases.This changes the fundamental economics of value. Economics teaches us that when a resource becomes cheap and abundant, the value shifts to its complements. The most pressing question for the era ahead: What will happen to human workers?

