AI and the New Economy Complete Analysis Series
Now: Part 4 | The Future of the AI Agent Economy
Part 1: What is the AI Agent Economy | Changing Consumption Patterns
Part 2: AI Meets Stablecoins | The Future of Automated Payment Systems
Part 3: The AI Revolution in Retail | Amazon, Walmart Case Studies
Is Consumption Alive and Well? Santa Rally vs Coin Hide and Seek
🔮 Key takeaways from the AI agent economy future outlook
✅ The global AI agent market is expected to grow to $47.1 billion by 2030 (CAGR of 44.81 TP3T)
✅ Gartner predicts that by 2028, 15% of daily work decisions will be made autonomously by AI agents
✅ NAVER is building an ‘Agent N’ ecosystem with over KRW 1 trillion in GPU investment by 2026
✅ Multi-agent collaborative systems emerge as a key trend in next-generation AI
✅ Establishing a regulatory framework is a key variable in the democratization of AI agents
So far, we've explored the concept of the AI agent economy, from its conception to its integration with stablecoins and real-world applications by global retailers. In Part 4 of this series, we'll look at the How the AI agent economy will evolve in the futureoutlook. Gartner, McKinsey, PwC, etc. Latest analysis from global research firmsand a comprehensive analysis of South Korea's AI agent strategy.
Global AI agent market outlook
The AI agent market is currently in its early growth stages, but over the next five years, it is expected to grow to Explosive growthis expected. Global research firms uniformly predict that AI agents will reshape entire industries.
1Market size and growth projections
According to Statista, the global AI agent market is worth 5.1 billion in 2024 to $47.1 billion in 2030which represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 44.8%and is currently one of the fastest growing segments of the tech industry.
| Year | Market size | Key Features | Adoption phase |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 5.1 billion | Early experimental phase | PoC-centric |
| 2025 | 15 billion | Going commercial | Zoom in on the pilot |
| 2028 | 28 billion | Adoption at scale | Enterprise Spread |
| 2030 | 47.1 billion | Ecosystem maturity | Industry standardization |
💡 Key takeawaysIDC predicts AI's cumulative global economic impact will reach $19.9 trillion by 2030
📊 NoteSource: Combination of Statista, IDC, Market.us analysis (as of 2025)
2Gartner's Top 5 Predictions
Gartner characterizes AI agents as Top technology trends for 2025and specifically predicts changes over the next three to five years. However, Gartner also has a More than 401 TP3T of AI agent projects canceled by 2027and advises a cautious approach.
2028: 151 TP3T of daily business decisions will be autonomously made by AI
From today's 01 TP3T to 2028, 151 TP3T of day-to-day work decisions will be made autonomously by AI agents. This starts with things like calendar management, email categorization, basic approvals, and more.
- Targeted tasks: Structured decision-making, iterative approval process
- Expected effect: 30-501 TP3T increase in workplace productivity
- PrerequisitesEstablish clear guidelines and oversight
Year 2028: 33% of enterprise apps integrate AI agents
One-third of enterprise software will have built-in AI agent capabilities. This is a dramatic increase from less than 11 TP3T in 2024.
- Key areas: CRM, ERP, HRM, Supply Chain Management
- Integration methods: Adding an agent layer to an existing system
- What to expect: Workflow automation rate of 70% or higher
③ 2026: 40% of enterprise apps will be equipped with task-specific AI agents
From less than 51 TP3T in 2025 to 401 TP3T by the end of 2026. The proliferation of specialized agents that specialize in specific tasks.
- Enforcement priority: Customer Service, Financial Analytics, Human Resources
- Form of introduction: SaaS-based subscription models lead the way
- Key considerations: Data security and privacy compliance
④ 2030: Guardian agents capture 10-151 TP3T of the market
The market for ‘guardian agents’ to monitor and manage AI agents takes off. The structure of AI overseeing AI becomes the norm.
- Core features: Agent behavior monitoring, risk detection, and automated controls.
- ApplicationsHigh-risk industries: finance, healthcare, legal, etc.
- Market size: Estimated $5-7 billion in 2030
2027: Possible 40%+ cancellation of AI Agent project
Increasing costs, unclear ROI, and lack of risk management can kill many projects. A strategic approach is essential.
- Top causes of failureExcessive expectations, lack of preparation, and poor infrastructure.
- Success conditions: Clear business goals, scale in phases, and build governance
- RecommendationsStart with small pilots, validate and scale up
Next-generation AI agent technology trends
AI agent technology is evolving rapidly. Single-agent to multi-agent collaboration systemsBy, Reactive to Predictive-Preemptiveand this shift will drive innovation across industries.
3Multi-agent orchestration
In 2025, the ‘The first year of 'multi-agent networks'. Beyond individual agents working independently, structures where multiple specialized agents collaborate to solve complex problems become the norm.
Orchestrator Agent
- Roles: Orchestrate your entire workflow
- Features: Task distribution, result integration, quality control
- Analogies: conductor of an orchestra
- Core technologies: LangGraph, AutoGen, CrewAI
Expert agents
- Roles: Specialize in a specific domain
- Type: Analyze, discover, create, validate agents
- Analogies: each instrumentalist
- Features: Maximize accuracy with vertical specialization
Guardian agent
- Roles: Watching and protecting other agents
- Features: Behavioral validation, risk containment, compliance
- Analogies: Quality Manager
- Importance: Essential in high-risk industries
4The rise of vertical AI agents
Experts say Vertical AI agent companies worth more than $1 billion in 2025-2026will emerge, where agents specialized for specific industries will create more value than general-purpose solutions.
| Industries | Core applications | Expected effect | Maturity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical | Diagnostic Assistant, Administrative Automation | 150 billion in annual savings | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Finance | Fraud detection, loan underwriting | 10x faster processing speed | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Distribution | Inventory management, dynamic pricing | 301 TP3T savings in inventory costs | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Manufacturing | Predictive maintenance, quality control | 401 TP3T less downtime | ⭐⭐⭐ |
💡 Note: Accenture says AI agents in healthcare alone could save U.S. healthcare system $150 billion per year
AI agent strategy in South Korea
South Korea is entering the AI agent economy. NAVER, Samsung, SK Telecom, and more Major Korean companies build AI agent ecosystemand governments are investing heavily in ‘Leapfrogging the ’AI trifecta'and we're expanding support for it.
5NAVER's ‘Agent N’ strategy
At the ‘DAN25’ conference in November 2025, NAVER announced that it would launch the ‘Agent N’to the public, and AI agent platforms in the search enterpriseWe're moving to a full adoption of agent services that go beyond just providing information to understanding user intent and taking action.
NAVER Agent N Roadmap
- Q1 2026: Launched Shopping Agent (NAVER PLUS Store)
- Q2 2026: AI tab released (integrated search agentization)
- Second half of 2026: Business Agent (ad-place integration)
- Investment size: Over $1 trillion on GPU infrastructure by 2026
Core differentiation strategy
- Service integrationOne-stop connection for: search, shopping, finance, content
- Physical AI: Nvidia collaboration expands industrial AI
- Sovereign AI: Own AI model specialized in Korean
- Creator ecosystem: 200 billion won in annual investment
💡 â NAVER's Vision“We will provide an experience where users can connect to the desired content, products, and services without thinking about search queries and perform actual actions just by talking to Agent N.” - Sooyeon Choi, CEO of NAVER
6State of the AI agent ecosystem in Korea
In addition to Naver Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom, Luton, Liner and others are entering the AI agent market. Many Korean companies are included in Forbes Korea's AI 50 and CB Insight's World's Top 100 AI Companies, demonstrating their global competitiveness.
| Enterprise | AI agent strategy | Key Features | Market positions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung Electronics | On-device AI agents | Galaxy AI integration | Hardware readers |
| SK Telecom | A.Dot (A.) extension | Communication-based AI services | 1 telco AI |
| Luton | AI SuperApps | 6 million monthly active users | 1 AI app in Korea |
| Liners | AI search agents | 11 million global users | 2 in the world for AI search |
The role of regulation and governance
Salesforce experts can help “In 2026, regulation, not technology, will be the biggest accelerator of AI agent adoption”in the coming years. A clear legal framework will remove investment uncertainty for companies, which will help drive large-scale adoption.
7AI agent governance key elements
Human-in-the-Loop
- ConceptsRequiring human approval for high-risk decisions
- Applications: Loan approvals, medical diagnoses, legal judgments
- How it's implemented: Agent recommendation → Human review → Final execution
- PurposeClarify accountability
Explainability
- ConceptsTransparently present the rationale behind AI decisions
- Required elements: Decision logs, data sources, reasoning process
- Regulatory requirements: EU AI Act, Korea AI Basic Act
- PurposeBuilding trust and responding to audits
Manage risk ratings
- Low risk: Calendar management, information retrieval (autonomous execution)
- Medium risk: purchase decision, booking (post-notification)
- High riskFinancial transactions, medical (pre-authorization required)
- Purpose: Controls proportional to risk
This article is based on the For objective informational and educational purposesand written by the AI Agent Economy. We provide analysis of the AI agent economy and do not endorse any particular service or platform.
AI technology and related industries are Change fastin the United States. Data and analysis in this article is current at the time of writing, please check official sources for the latest information.


