— If execution becomes commoditized, what will your brand stand for? — As workflows span silos, how will you ensure accountability and control? These are the leadership tests of the agentic era. Very soon the central question for leaders will move on from “what can this agent do for us” to “what outcomes am I prepared to deliver with it, and how can I best use the space it creates to allow humans to do what only they can do even better?” The sooner that organizations can embed agentic AI into their marketing, sales, and customer support operations, the sooner they will be able to answer those larger questions. Greg Kelly and Steve Reis are senior partners in McKinsey’s Atlanta office, and Lisa Harkness is a partner in the Connecticut office. The authors wish to thank Barr Seitz and Cindy Van Horne for their contributions to this article. Copyright © 2025 McKinsey & Company. All rights reserved. Agents for growth: Turning AI promise into impact 7