Issue Productivity gaps from uneven AI agent adoption and Korea's agent ecosystem policy

Summary

The report warns that whether individuals and organisations embed AI agents in their work will become a key factor structurally deciding productivity gaps between them. As agents automate much of the work, hiring criteria are expected to shift quickly from job knowledge toward the ability to work with AI and solve hard problems. Companies will also need management systems that track the performance and risks of AI agents as part of their workforce. On the policy side, Korea plans industry-specific agents that work with people across manufacturing and services, with support from demand discovery through development, testing and diffusion. It also proposes AI research colleagues that collaborate across the research cycle to build a creative agent-based research ecosystem.