by Patrick Glynn 
Insight Global, in collaboration with Atlanta-based non-profit TechBridge, hosted more than 75 tech executives and leaders from across the Atlanta area for a dynamic panel discussion about the current state and future of agentic AI.
The panel, titled Human-Centric Innovation: Leveraging Agentic AI While Elevating Human Skills, explored the balance between implementing technological innovations—particularly agentic AI—while still identifying and developing the critical human skills needed to advance a business forward.
Hosted by Brian Benn, the Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Clark Atlanta University, the panel saw input from a wide range of expertise. Panelists included:
- Jeanna Schoonmaker, Director of Data Science, AI & ML at Insight Global
- Remi Dyon, Principal Solution Architect at Microsoft
- Joe Finley, Litigation Partner at Jones Day
Agentic AI Can Transform How We Work
Agentic AI is the next evolution following generative AI. Rather than simply prompting a model to generate a report, analysis, image, or other piece of data, agentic AI agents, in theory, will execute tasks and make decisions requested by humans.
“We no longer have simply a ‘virtual assistant’ who we have to keep prompting and keep asking questions,” Jeanne Schoonmaker said during the panel. “But instead, we have a partner—a proactive collaborator—who we can give tasks, give outcomes that we are looking for, and then give it the right guardrails.”
A simple example: Rather than simply asking a generative AI model what the best restaurants near you are, an agentic AI agent can not only identify the best restaurants, but then make a reservation for you, if you prompt it to.
To highlight agentic AI’s potential impact, Gartner projects that by 2029, agentic AI could solve 80% of customer service issues without requiring human intervention. But that brings up a key consideration of this technology: What about the people in your organization?
Building a Human-Centered Approach to AI
Humans are and will remain key to organizational growth. The panel agreed that these new tools should be use to enhance what a human can do—not replace it.
“If you empower your employee and your customers with the right tool, you will be differentiating yourself from other businesses,” said Dyon.
Ultimately, each business needs to decide what legitimate and helpful use cases AI can have for its employees. How will it help? What are you trying to accomplish with AI?
“Carve some time to think about ‘who are we as a company?’ What are those North Star principles we should set up before we ever build and deploy an AI model?” Schoonmaker suggests.
That way, you’re putting your people and who you are as a business before the new technology. It will help you make more informed decisions for your bottom line and for the people you employ, the panel says.
Dyon stresses that once you make those decisions, it’s important to “get your data ready.” A model is only as good as the data it is trained on, and if you’re going to have an effective AI use case implemented in your organization, the model must be able to communicate effectively with your organizational data. The use case “doesn’t have to be complicated, but it has to have a big impact on your business,” Dyon says. The data will be the foundation of having a big impact.
Read: Insight Global’s AI in Hiring Report
Regulation & Compliance for Agentic AI
A significant discussion point throughout the panel were both the ethical considerations of agentic AI, then future regulation and compliance revolving around all AI practices.
Schoonmaker pointed out that simple awareness of ethics around AI will not be enough. A key skill moving forward will not only be identifying AI use cases, but also being willing to stand up and ask, “Should we? [It’s] having that ability to stop, to ask the right questions at the right time.”
However, right now, those decisions and accountability largely lie in the hands of the users and builders. While individual states have passed some laws and regulations around AI, Joe suggest that “maybe you’ll get federal legislation that will kind of tie the whole thing together.” In a prologue to the event, Goergia state representative Todd Jones also stressed the importance of state government (specifically Georgia) building good environments for business to invest in new technology and grow.
But until widely accepted or enforced regulations exist, compliance-focused organizations are largely “looking at what can you do proactively to make sure that your agent doesn’t cause your agent AI doesn’t cause harm,” Finley said.
But that again lays in the hands of humans in ensuring it doesn’t cause harm.
“AI is good at answering questions. It does not feel feelings. It cannot show empathy,” Schoonmaker pointed out. “That is the opportunity that we continue to have as humans in this human-centric look at AI.”
Insight Global is an international professional services and staffing company specializing in delivering talent and technical solutions to Fortune 1000 companies across IT, healthcare, engineering, and more. Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, Insight Global has more than 70 locations across North America, Europe, and Asia and global staffing capabilities in 50+ countries. To learn more about the company, visit insightglobal.com.
TechBridge is a tech non-profit aimed at breaking the cycle of generational poverty through technology solutions and workforce programming.
by Charlotte Pinckney 
by Ariel Zion 