A Workato-hosted event, Work^AI, revealed that despite widespread AI deployment, most companies struggle to achieve ROI from AI agents due to structural execution gaps rather than model quality issues. Speakers from Workato, Snowflake, and Monte Carlo emphasized that robust enterprise AI requires a stable architectural foundation, comprehensive governance to prevent sprawl, and strong leadership from IT and GRC teams to drive successful transformation.
"Enterprises don't transform because AI can reason," Rahul Dureja said. "They transform when AI can execute. Can it access the right systems? Can it operate within governance boundaries? Can it understand the state of a business process? Can it take action reliably?"
— Rahul Dureja
"If every agent is a special project doing its own identity and integration and orchestration and connectivity and observability and governance and token management with every system," Seligman said, "those of you who have been in the IT landscape for a while know exactly how this turns out. It's super unpleasant. It adds a lot of risk. It adds a lot of complexity. You go slower."
— Adam Seligman
"The IT team needs to be that group. You need to step up and lead that now. Because if you don't become the leader, you won't own the operations, and they'll hire a CAIO around you. Go get it now if you don't own it, because it's powerful, and you'll become much more strategic if you own AI as an IT leader."
— Carter Busse