This week has been huge for AI agents, which are computer programs that can think, plan, and do jobs all by themselves. Companies around the world are putting these agents into real work, and we saw many announcements showing how AI agents are changing business.

One of the biggest news stories came from Essity, a company that makes products millions of people use every single day. Essity works with well-known helpers named TENA and Tork. This company said it is working with two tech giants, Accenture and Microsoft, to use AI agents in its business. The plan is to start by using AI agents to help with money work and buying things that the company needs. Later, Essity wants to use AI agents for more jobs across the whole company. This kind of work shows that big, important companies believe AI agents can really help their business grow.

Google Cloud also shared something special this week. They gave out a big 54-page guide that teaches people how to build and use AI agents properly. The guide explains five different levels of how AI agents can work. At the beginning, agents just do one simple job. As they get smarter, agents can work together as a team, kind of like how people work together in an office. The smartest agents can even make new tools and other agents when they see they need them. Google says the AI agent market could be worth one trillion dollars by 2040.

Small business owners got some love this week too. Intuit, a company that helps businesses with their money, announced new AI agents for businesses in the United Kingdom. These agents have names like Customer Agent, Finance Agent, and Project Management Agent. The Customer Agent helps find new people to sell to and can even set up meetings. The Finance Agent shows business owners how much money they made or lost. The Project Management Agent helps set up new projects faster by filling in details automatically. Intuit found that 80 percent of small business leaders in the United Kingdom believe AI agents could help them do more work and keep better control of their business.

GoDaddy also launched Airo.ai this week, which is an AI agent tool for small businesses. The cool thing about Airo.ai is that GoDaddy can quickly add new agents as businesses need them. So if business owners need a new kind of agent tomorrow, GoDaddy can build it fast.

Big money companies are using AI agents too. Banks and insurance companies said they are using AI agents to catch people trying to commit fraud and to help people fill out forms faster. DHL, which ships things all around the world, teamed up with a company called HappyRobot to use AI agents. These agents answer phone calls and emails without a real person having to do it. They schedule times for delivery trucks and handle big jobs in warehouses. DHL said this helps them work faster and makes customers happier.

Research from Bain & Company showed that AI agents will probably change how people shop online. Some stores are already using AI to send customers ideas about what to buy, and this is growing fast. Bain also said that about half of people shopping online are still worried about AI agents that make buying choices all by themselves.

But there are some worries too. A study found that 71 percent of companies do not feel ready to trust AI agents with their most important jobs yet. Many companies do not have clear rules about how to use AI agents safely. This is the main reason more companies are not jumping in right away. However, the same study showed that about 90 percent of people who run companies think AI agents will be handling real work jobs within three to five years. This shows that even though people are nervous, they know AI agents are coming to their companies soon.