A new KPMG global survey of 2,500 technology executives across 27 countries found that 92% expect AI agent management to become an essential leadership skill within the next five years, according to Moneycontrol. The report also found that 88% of the organizations surveyed have already begun investing in agentic AI technologies.
The most concrete finding: digital assistants are projected to make up 36% of core technology teams by 2027, up from 28% in 2025. That is an eight-percentage-point shift in two years, suggesting agent adoption is accelerating faster than most workforce planning models account for.
The Composition Shift
The KPMG report frames the change as structural, not incremental. Over a third of what a technology team does will be handled by AI agents within a year. That redefines what “team capacity” means for engineering leaders planning headcount, budgets, and project timelines.
Umesh Sachdev, co-founder and CEO of Uniphore, told Moneycontrol: “Companies that learn to use AI and AI agents and all these architectures effectively are likely to leave their peer groups behind. Right now that is coming down to the leadership of companies and departments and teams.”
Beyond Agents: Quantum Risk
The report flagged a parallel concern. More than four in ten executives said their organizations were not adequately prepared for security risks posed by quantum computing advances, particularly the threat to existing encryption standards. Guy Holland, Global Leader of the CIO Center of Excellence at KPMG International, described businesses as entering an “Intelligence Age” where AI, quantum, and geopolitical uncertainty are transforming the competitive landscape simultaneously, Moneycontrol reported.
The Hiring Inversion
The 36% figure lands in a week when institutional data on AI’s workforce impact is stacking up. A Harvard Business School and INSEAD study of 2,900+ Y Combinator startups, covered by NCT last week, found AI-native firms already operate with 25% fewer employees and half a level flatter hierarchies. The KPMG data extends that pattern to large enterprises: the shift from hiring people to managing agents is happening at every scale, not just at startups built around the technology from day one.
For technology leaders, the practical question is no longer whether to adopt agents but how to restructure teams around them. The 92% figure suggests near-consensus at the executive level. The 28%-to-36% projection suggests the restructuring is already underway.