The Agent Effect

Enterprises are racing to deploy AI agents and discovering that “it works in a pilot” isn’t the same as “it’s safe in production.” In this episode, Benjamin Larsen unpacks the World Economic Forum’s AI Agents in Action report, exploring how organizations can classify agentic systems, assess risk, measure performance, and design governance frameworks that enable — rather than slow — innovation in the decade of AI agents.

Patricio Salvatore La Rosa shares how Bayer is building the foundational components of agentic AI in a complex, biologically driven production environment. He explains the prerequisites for adoption –data quality, system connectivity, governance, and cultural trust – and how these elements enable agents to support everything from operational scheduling to future autonomous field interventions. 

Cognizant set a Guinness World Record by hosting the world’s largest GenAI hackathon with over 53,000 participants across 40 countries. In this episode, Arumugam Kamaradassan and Deepak Singh share how Cognizant vibe coded the submissions process including the entry portal and used a multi-agent system for judging, evaluating over 30,000 submissions in under 24 hours.

Leo S. Mackay, Jr. shares what it takes to scale agentic AI at the enterprise level — and why most organizations are starting in the wrong place. Drawing on leadership roles in national defense, ethics, and the boardroom, he unpacks how trust, domain expertise, and the right strategic partners create the conditions for real AI transformation.

Kim Krogh Andersen joins Paul Jarratt to share how enterprises can move beyond AI hype and build the foundational systems and leadership mindset to scale agents safely and strategically. 

Krishna Gade, Founder and CEO of Fiddler, explores how businesses can build trust in agentic AI – from investing in responsible practices to implementing observability tools that ensure agents behave reliably at scale.

Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar S unpacks how AI agents are changing the enterprise equation – from expanding capacity through agentic capital to building entirely new operating models. He shares how Cognizant is applying agents internally, why context is critical to scaling them safely, and what leaders need to do now to stay ahead in this new era of intelligent collaboration.

Lisa Bechtold, Zurich Insurance’s Global Head of AI Governance, and Amir Banifatemi, Cognizant’s Chief Responsible AI Officer, share what it takes to scale agentic AI safely and why strong governance is essential for delivering ROI and long-term impact.

In part two, Adam Cheyer and Babak Hodjat break down how businesses can begin their agentic transformation—from collapsing silos to designing systems that think, act and scale with intelligence.    

Adam Cheyer and Babak Hodjat reflect on the evolution of AI agents since Siri—and what makes multi-agent systems so powerful in today’s enterprise landscape.