This week marked a turning point for agentic AI in trading and business. Several major announcements show that computer programs that can think and act on their own are becoming the new normal.

The biggest news came from a study by Boston Consulting Group. They looked at over 1,250 companies around the world. The results show a huge gap between companies that use AI agents well and those that don't.

Only 5% of companies are what experts call future-built. These companies use AI agents across their whole business. They make twice as much money and save 40% more on costs compared to slower companies. The gap between winners and losers is getting bigger every month.

Agentic AI already accounts for 17% of all AI value in businesses today. This number is expected to jump to 29% by 2028. Future-built companies spend 15% of their AI budgets on these smart agents. Meanwhile, most other companies barely use them at all.

The study found that 70% of AI's value comes from core business areas like sales, marketing, and supply chains. This means AI agents are not just helping with small tasks. They are changing how the most important parts of businesses work.

Google made waves with its Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) announcement. This new system lets AI agents buy and sell things for people automatically. Instead of humans having to click through websites and enter payment details, AI agents can do all the shopping.

Google didn't build this alone. They partnered with over 25 major payment companies. This includes American Express, PayPal, Coinbase, MasterCard, and WorldPay. Having so many big names involved shows how serious this technology is.

The really exciting part is Agent-to-Agent trading. This means AI agents can buy and sell to other AI agents without any humans involved. One AI might be shopping for a company while another AI is selling products. They can complete entire trades automatically.

Google's system can work with different types of money, including cryptocurrency. This opens up new ways for AI agents to trade that don't rely on traditional banks. AI agents can have their own digital wallets and spend money independently.

However, this new technology brings challenges too. Lawyers worry about who is responsible when AI agents make bad trades. If an AI agent buys something wrong or gets scammed, who pays for the mistake? These legal questions don't have clear answers yet.

Another company making big moves is Dataminr. They launched Intel Agents for the physical world. These AI agents watch news and events that could affect trading and business. They can spot problems like natural disasters or political issues before they hurt companies.

These agents work 24/7 and can process billions of pieces of information every day. They look at over 1 million public data sources to find important events. When something happens that could affect a business, the AI agents automatically write reports explaining what it means.

The agentic AI market is growing incredibly fast. A new report shows the market for AI agents in digital engineering will grow by $20.14 billion between 2024 and 2029. That's a 46.4% growth rate every year. This massive growth shows that businesses everywhere are starting to use AI agents.

All these changes point to a future where AI agents handle much of trading and business operations. Companies that start using these technologies now will have huge advantages. Those that wait risk being left behind as the business world transforms around AI agents.