AI At Work: Agents Are Already Here - A Conversation with Sam Ransbotham

AI agents are rapidly becoming one of the most influential technologies inside modern organizations — often without leaders even realizing the shift. In this episode, Dietmar Fischer sits down with MIT Sloan podcast host Sam Ransbotham to uncover why AI agents and agentic AI systems are spreading through enterprises at remarkable speed. Based on a global study of 2,100 executives across 116 countries, Sam shares how AI agents improve productivity, increase job satisfaction, and fundamentally reshape how companies work. From Chevron’s proactive exploration tools to the rise of autonomous knowledge assistants, we explore the surprising ways enterprise AI adoption is unfolding in real time. 📧💌📧 Tune in to get my thoughts and all episodes — don’t forget to subscribe to our Newsletter: beginnersguide.nl 📧💌📧 This wide-ranging conversation covers practical use cases, risks and transparency issues, the future of generalists vs specialists, how universities adapt to AI, and why understanding the technology still matters deeply. Quotes from the Episode “We’re moving from tools we command to tools that proactively act on our behalf.” “AI agents don’t just make us more productive; they make us happier by removing the parts of work we dislike.” “Understanding AI makes you a better user of AI. Depth still matters.” Chapters 00:00 Welcome & How Sam Got Into AI 03:21 What Are AI Agents? Definitions and Early Insights 07:14 Real Enterprise Use Cases of AI Agents 12:05 Job Satisfaction, Productivity, and Human-AI Collaboration 17:20 Generalists, Specialists & the Future of Work 22:30 Risks, Transparency & Avoiding an Oppressive AI Future 28:45 How Companies Should Start with Agentic AI 33:20 AI in Education and Changing Learning Environments 39:00 Sam’s Personal Use of AI — What Works and What Doesn’t 41:20 Terminator vs Matrix? AI Futures 42:41 Where to Find Sam and the MIT Sloan Study Where to Find the Sam Ransbotham site at Boston College Or you find him on LinkedIn The study of MIT Sloan lies here And, last, but not least, Sam's podcast “Me, Myself, and AI” ! About Dietmar Fischer: Dietmar is a podcaster and AI marketer from Berlin. If you want to elevate your AI or digital marketing strategy, get in touch anytime at argoberlin.com Music credit: “Modern Situations” by Unicorn Heads 🎵