1. The conversation around AI is rapidly evolving beyond ChatGPT and image generators. The frontier is now occupied by AI agents—systems that don't just respond to prompts but are given a high-level goal (e.g., "launch a marketing campaign for this product") and autonomously break it down into steps: researching the market, drafting copy, designing graphics, scheduling social media posts, and analyzing initial engagement.
2. Major tech players are racing to deploy this. At the recent AWS re:Invent conference, Amazon announced its new "Frontier agents," capable of operating for hours or days on complex workflows. Microsoft is pushing "AutoGen" frameworks, and startups like Cognition Labs (creator of the AI software engineer, Devin) are showing what's possible. For businesses, this means the automation of entire job functions, not just tasks. However, it raises critical questions about oversight, security, and the future of knowledge work. The economic impact is predicted to be far greater than generative AI's first wave, as these agents move from simple automation to strategic execution.