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A new survey from Zapier reveals that enterprise investment in AI agents is set to surge, with 84% of business leaders planning to increase funding over the next year. This strong investment intent comes as 72% of enterprises are already actively using or testing AI agents, though significant barriers around security, governance, and integration remain.
84% of enterprise leaders plan to increase investment in AI agents over the next 12 months.
72% of enterprises are currently using or testing AI agents, with 40% of those having multiple agents in production.
The top departments for deployment are Customer Support (49%) and Operations (47%).
The most common use case is data management (47%), such as data entry and extraction.
Security and data privacy concerns are the single biggest barrier to wider adoption.
Despite adoption, most companies prefer a "human-in-the-loop" approach, maintaining close oversight.
The data paints a picture of rapid but measured adoption. While a significant majority of enterprises are deploying AI agents, primarily for automating routine workflows in support and operations, there is a clear preference for maintaining human supervision. This "human-in-the-loop" strategy is the most common management approach, indicating that while the technology is being embraced, full autonomy is not yet fully trusted.
The survey identifies a critical gap between adoption enthusiasm and operational readiness. Security and data privacy concerns top the list of barriers to adoption. This challenge is compounded by "AI tool sprawl," where disconnected tools create integration headaches and increase risk. Zapier's recommendation is for companies to shift focus from merely acquiring AI tools to properly orchestrating them into unified, secure business processes.
The report outlines key recommendations for businesses navigating this shift: prioritize investment in automating established workflows, democratize access with no-code AI agent builders to avoid IT bottlenecks, implement human checkpoints at critical workflow steps, and rigorously verify the security and governance practices of the AI platforms in use.
The Zapier survey underscores that AI agents have moved decisively from experimentation to strategic investment for most enterprises. However, the path to realizing their full potential is not merely technological but organizational. Success will depend on a company's ability to integrate these autonomous systems securely, govern them effectively, and balance their efficiency gains with necessary human oversight to mitigate risk and build trust.
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