This report uses several terms to distinguish between survey findings, workplace groups and different levels of AI-enabled action.
AI assistance: AI supports a task initiated by a person, such as summarizing information, generating ideas or analyzing data. A person reviews the output and decides how to use it.
Autonomous action: AI identifies a need and takes action without requiring direct approval each time. These actions remain subject to defined permissions, guardrails and escalation rules.
Autonomous workplace: a work environment that uses AI agents to sense, decide, act, and continuously learn — driving autonomy across people, technology, and work to accelerate business performance.
Autonomous IT: an application of the autonomous digital workplace in which AI agents detect and resolve current or predicted technology issues with progressively less direct human intervention. People remain responsible for governing the systems, defining guardrails and managing exceptions.
Autonomous systems: AI-enabled technologies capable of making decisions or taking actions with progressively less direct human intervention.
