Issue The gap between vendor promises and executive accountability

Summary

This issue highlights the distance between what AI suppliers claim and what chief executives are willing to risk their reputations on. EY argues that the coming wave of productivity from agentic AI depends on governance and trust. As intelligent agents take decisions and interact with each other, human oversight becomes indispensable. Without safeguards, technology meant to raise productivity could instead magnify weaknesses. EY says bridging the gap requires leaders to manage by exception and orchestration rather than by enforcing fixed procedures, intervening when results fall outside expectations. It describes this as a move from conducting tasks to orchestrating systems, supported by operating models built around outcomes instead of activity.