AI Academy

AI agents are moving beyond labs and prototypes to become core enablers in consulting, commerce, and finance. With their ability to handle multi-step workflows, adapt to new tasks, and scale across organizations, agentic AI is reshaping industries at an unprecedented pace.

Consulting & Operations: One Agent per Consultant

McKinsey has embarked on one of the boldest experiments in enterprise AI adoption: deploying one AI agent per consultant. The vision is clear, augment consulting workflows by automating research, drafting, data analysis, and scenario planning. Instead of replacing consultants, these agents amplify productivity, allowing human experts to focus on strategy and client engagement.

The consulting industry has long been reliant on knowledge-intensive tasks. By embedding AI agents firm-wide, firms like McKinsey are setting a precedent: in the near future, every professional might work alongside their own digital counterpart. This isn’t about efficiency alone, it’s about redefining the nature of advisory work.

Commerce & Enterprise Trends: Fashion Meets Agentic AI

Luxury brands such as LVMH are experimenting with agentic AI to transform the customer journey. From virtual styling assistants that provide personalized recommendations to trend forecasting engines that digest global cultural signals, AI agents are giving retailers a competitive edge.

Unlike traditional AI, which often operated as narrow recommendation systems, agentic AI adapts to customer context—remembering preferences, dynamically updating suggestions, and collaborating across channels. The result: deeper personalization, improved inventory management, and more creative consumer experiences.

The fashion industry, known for its rapid cycles, is an ideal testing ground. If AI agents can keep pace with seasonal trends, they could soon become indispensable in other consumer sectors as well.

Finance: Agents as Analyst Multipliers

The finance sector is equally transformed by agentic AI. Hedge funds like Porchester Capital now deploy AI systems such as Claude and Gemini to replicate as much as 75% of an analyst’s workload. From digesting earnings reports to generating investment theses, AI agents provide speed, consistency, and breadth of coverage that human teams alone cannot match.

This doesn’t mean the human analyst disappears. Instead, analysts shift into higher-order roles—validating AI outputs, identifying nuanced risks, and cultivating client relationships. In an industry where seconds can define profit margins, AI agents are becoming the new co-analysts

Across consulting, commerce, and finance, the pattern is unmistakable: AI agents are not siloed tools but collaborative counterparts. Their role is expanding from automating repetitive tasks to shaping strategy, creativity, and execution.

The next phase will hinge on trust and governance. As agents become deeply embedded in decision-making, questions around explainability, accountability, and compliance will dominate. Industries that master these dimensions will unlock the full potential of agentic AI, while those that hesitate risk falling behind.