---
title: "Seven in ten organizations want agents this year; two in ten can govern them"
slug: estudio-agentes-sin-gobierno
lang: en
situation: operar
format: estudio
minutes: 5
updated: 2026-10-19
publisher: "Gartner"
published: "2026-10-19"
sources:
  - label: "Gartner, Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2026 keynote press release"
    url: "https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-10-19-gartner-it-symposium-xpo-keynote-release-2026"
    date: "2026-10-19"
---

# Seven in ten organizations want agents this year; two in ten can govern them

> For anyone receiving a proposal to put AI agents into an operational process who has to decide whether it is ready.

## In 30 seconds

- Gartner reports that 71% of organizations expect to deploy agentic AI in the next 12 months, but only 21% have the capabilities to govern it today.
- An agent acts, it doesn't just suggest. If nobody defined what it may do unsupervised, the error goes straight into operations.
- Before the pilot, define limits, an owner and a way to switch it off.

## The exhibit

```exhibit
title: The intent to use agents is far ahead of governance
unit: %
Expect to deploy agentic AI in 12 months | 71
Leaders seeing some positive value from AI | 58
CIOs aligning technology and business risk | 25
Have agentic AI governance capabilities | 21
note: Gartner, press release, Oct. 19, 2026. Separate surveys: Q2 2026, 2,000+ CIOs and tech executives; Q2 2026, 1,000+ functional leaders; Q3 2026, 303 CIOs and IT risk leaders.
```

## Fact

- In a Q2 2026 survey of more than 2,000 CIOs and technology executives, 71% expect to deploy agentic AI in the next 12 months.
- In that same survey, only 21% currently have agentic AI governance capabilities in place.
- In a separate Q2 survey of more than 1,000 functional leaders, 58% say they see some positive value from their AI initiatives.
- In a Q3 survey of 303 CIOs and IT risk management leaders, only 25% align technology risk with business risk.

## My read

The distance between 71% and 21% is the decision point for any operations manager. An assistant that drafts gets reviewed before use; an agent that approves, moves or sends something acts before anyone sees it. And 58% seeing "some" value says nothing about how much or where. My read: the agent is not the problem; dropping it into a process nobody has documented, with no written limits and no owner who can stop it, is.

## What to do on Monday

1. Before approving an agent, document the current process and where time or quality is lost. [Sheet: process diagnosis before automating](/resources/diagnostico-proceso-antes-de-automatizar/)
2. Write down what the agent may do unsupervised, what needs human approval and who switches it off. [Sheet: AI operational risk checklist](/resources/checklist-riesgos-ia-operacion/)
3. Set the criteria to scale, adjust or stop the pilot from day one. [Sheet: pilot-that-scales checklist](/resources/checklist-piloto-que-escala/)

## What we don't know

- The figures come from three different surveys; they can't be added up or compared as one sample.
- "Expect to deploy" is intent, not actual deployment; and "some positive value" doesn't measure how much.
- The release gives no regions or sampling method; Gartner sells advisory on these topics.

## If this becomes a big decision

If the decision is hard to reverse and carries your name, the free tools at vicsol.org/decision-clarity/ help you structure it. They don't replace a formal review.

---

Vic Sol · Decision Desk · vicsol.org/resources/ · Free to use with attribution.
Independent summary of a public source; figures belong to their author. Not legal, financial or audit advice.