As AI tools grow in capability and sophistication, some industry analysts say they’re no longer just assistants. They’re becoming co-workers. AI agents are predicted to transform how work gets done across major HR tech platforms and beyond. According to Microsoft, at the helm of this rising functionality is a new kind of leader: the “agent boss.”
Based on insights from Microsoft’s 2025 Annual Work Trend Index: The Frontier Firm is Born, agent bosses don’t merely use AI; they manage teams of AI agents to amplify productivity and drive innovation. Microsoft researchers expect agent bosses to be leaders who build, delegate to and oversee agents to “amplify their impact.” This approach allows these individuals to scale quickly and take “control of their career in the age of AI,” according to the report’s authors.
Getting ready for the agent boss era
Preparing the workforce for this new model of work alongside agents may be the defining challenge—and opportunity—of the coming years.
Microsoft researchers note: “From the boardroom to the front line, every worker will need to think like the CEO of an agent-powered start-up, directing teams of agents with specialized skills like research and data analysis.”
HR Tech keynote speaker Josh Bersin has also championed the rise of AI agents, emphasizing that their impact goes far beyond efficiency. He envisions a fundamental shift in how organizations operate—where information and insights flow seamlessly across the enterprise, including within HR itself.
“We’re entering a world with these agents where we’re going to be re-engineering the way our companies work end to end—including inside of HR,” Bersin wrote in his recent blog post.
The gap in AI adoption
Many business leaders are already leaning into this future. Nearly a third of managers surveyed by Microsoft say they plan to hire AI workforce managers to oversee hybrid teams of humans and agents, while 32% are eyeing AI specialists who can build and optimize multi-agent systems.
However, a significant gap exists between leadership and employee readiness. The Microsoft report reveals that leaders are outpacing employees across every key indicator of AI fluency:
- 67% of leaders say they’re familiar with AI agents, compared to just 40% of employees
- Leaders are more likely to trust AI for mission-critical work and see it as a career catalyst
- Many leaders report daily time savings of over an hour through AI use
- Leaders tend to treat AI as a thought partner rather than just a tool, showing more advanced understanding of how to extract value from these systems
- As one Microsoft researcher explains, “Working with agents is like onboarding a new team member—you don’t micromanage, but you need informed trust.”
The emergence of ‘frontier firms’
Bersin emphasizes that this is a time of increasing acceleration: “In other words, the capabilities of AI are growing much faster than our organizations’ ability to adapt, so we have to lean forward and start redesigning our companies.”
The outcome could manifest as what Microsoft researchers call “frontier firms”—organizations at the leading edge of AI adoption. In these forward-thinking companies, entry-level workers effectively become managers from day one, directing AI agents rather than traditional direct reports.
Read more | AI in HR: What Microsoft has learned
Uncertainty about AI literacy
Amid economic uncertainty and a cooling job market, employees are seeking stability and growth opportunities. More than half of employees and an even greater share of leaders now say they can no longer take job security for granted in their industry. The labor market reflects this anxiety: Eighty-one percent of employees report they haven’t changed jobs in the past year, signaling a frozen market amid growing uncertainty.
Yet, opportunity emerges from this challenge. AI literacy has become the most in-demand skill of 2025, according to LinkedIn data cited in the study. Importantly, human strengths—like adaptability, creative thinking and conflict resolution—are also surging in relevance, particularly when paired with digital capabilities.
According to Microsoft, frontier firms are expected to deliver faster career progression, greater job satisfaction and new forms of organizational agility—but only if companies invest in skill-building now. The research shows that just under half of leaders are prioritizing employee upskilling in the next 12-18 months, while 35% are considering hiring dedicated AI trainers.
The HR imperative
For HR professionals, successfully leading a workforce that includes AI agents will depend on more than rolling out new tools. It will require reimagining job roles, redesigning onboarding programs, redefining performance metrics and rewriting the playbook for learning and development, according to Microsoft.
“If you have a people problem, you will have an AI problem,” warns Amy Webb, futurist and CEO of the Future Today Strategy Group. She was quoted in the Microsoft report, noting that as multi-agent systems reshape the workplace, the challenge for organizations will be integrating and managing them securely and effectively.
According to Webb, companies best positioned to thrive are those that already excel at enabling their human workforce: “breaking down silos, fostering collaboration and ensuring the entire organization works toward common goals.”
Hear more from Josh Bersin at HR Tech 2025 in Las Vegas. His keynote will be HR Technology Disrupted: AI Has Changed The Game. Register before June 13 for savings.
