What is agentic AI?

A new type of artificial intelligence has emerged that has a big impact on the way small business owners operate: agentic AI. 

Agentic AI is an innovative technology that sets itself apart from generative AI (GenAI) by performing tasks as an autonomous agent. It can achieve goals while managing and executing projects with lightning-quick speed. Because it operates as an autonomous agent, it requires minimal human prompting. 

Agentic AI offers a significant competitive advantage to small business owners looking to stay ahead.

Agentic AI is emerging as a contributive technological force in marketing, accounting, and administration for small businesses. It can fuel business success with data analyzation, workflow management, and complex project execution. With a digital taskforce of autonomous agents, small businesses can get big help with bookkeeping, data processing, and strategic planning. 

Agentic AI is fast becoming a critical tool in today’s small business landscape, and the future is brimming with possibilities for higher efficiency, more productivity, and smarter decision-making to drive business forward with confidence. 

What is agentic AI?

Agentic AI is a type of artificial intelligence that provides consumers with autonomous agents capable of making informed decisions with minimal human guidance. These autonomous agents have the capacity to analyze data, identify objectives, and develop strategies. Key characteristics of agentic AI include:

• Autonomy
• Goal-oriented behavior
• The ability to adapt to different contexts

Agentic AI's autonomous nature allows the AI to make informed decisions and achieve goals independently. It manages and executes complex business strategies all on its own, with limited human prompting or management. 

Timeline of artificial intelligence (AI)

Though agentic AI is new to the scene, it's important to understand the roots of artificial intelligence. It began with basic symbolic reasoning in the 1950s and progressively developed into a technology that mirrors deep human reasoning. The 2020s exploded with AI advancement, unleashing its limitless potential for individuals, nonprofits, small businesses, and large corporations. The advent of generative AI meant that humans could prompt the technology to accomplish tasks in mere seconds that would traditionally take hours to achieve. Business owners who currently use GenAI, which generates content like text, images, or code, find that agentic AI takes things to the next level of productivity and efficiency. 

Stats and adoption trends of AI in 2025

In 2025, 68% of US small businesses are using AI, according to the quarterly Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Insights survey. That's an increase of nearly 42% over one year ago, when less than half of respondents used AI. As of April 2025, 9% of business owners report using agentic AI, which has only recently burst onto the scene.

Of business owners using AI in 2025, 74% told QuickBooks that it’s boosting productivity, and they're putting it to use most for marketing, customer service, administrative tasks, data processing, and bookkeeping. 

• Top benefits from AI are more revenue (41%), lower costs (25%), and shorter workdays (24%), according to the survey respondents. Of those not yet using AI, 53% of small business owners say they're considering adopting it.

Companies continue to embed AI solutions in their digital platforms and software in 2025—such as Gemini integrating into Google Search and Gmail, and Intuit AI agents in QuickBooks—making AI more accessible for individuals. Thirty-eight percent of small business owners say they've begun using AI because it was added to digital tools that they already use, the QuickBooks survey found.

Overall AI use among Americans has grown to 61%, and 19% of US adults interact with AI every day, according to an April 2025 survey by Menlo Ventures, in partnership with Morning Consult. The same survey found that 60% of AI users are developing more complex workflows by using specialized AI tools in addition to general AI assistants (such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Meta AI).

The progression from GenAI to agentic AI

Many businesses have benefited from artificial intelligence like GenAI for years. ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Intuit Assist for QuickBooks are prime examples of GenAI that can boost productivity in business.

Quick breakdown of generative AI

Generative AI uses historical data, data patterns, and human-directed prompts to create useful content in seconds. Businesses have utilized GenAI to scale massive amounts of data into text, create images, and generate code—all while saving time, money, and effort. Traditionally, AI has relied upon human interaction and guidance to provide its user content. That's no longer the case with the introduction of agentic AI.

Quick breakdown of agentic AI

As agentic AI emerges into the business world, it expands the possibilities for working smarter, more efficiently, and more productively. Unlike GenAI, agentic AI requires very little human prompting. Its autonomous agents are capable of making informed decisions, and it uses human feedback to learn and improve over time. These agentic AI systems make future-oriented actions and decisions, while GenAI is based on past information. In mid-2025, about 1 in 10 business owners is an early adopter of agentic AI, according to Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Insights.

What are the main benefits of agentic AI?

Agentic AI has the potential to help individuals and businesses work with more efficiency and accuracy while requiring little oversight. The main benefits of agentic AI are:

• It saves time: Agentic AI can boost productivity and efficiency by making decisions and taking care of tasks for people, often in less time than a person could do it. Humans are freed up to focus on their most important to-dos.
• It gets things right: Agentic AI can improve accuracy—and do it quickly—by eliminating human error, gathering information, and learning from responses.
• It works with minimal effort: With very little human prompting, agentic AI can function autonomously and accurately to meet the goals that have been set for it.

Why agentic AI is important for small business owners

Understanding the power and possibility of agentic AI is crucial for small business owners who want to make the most of their time and resources. Routine tasks such as bookkeeping, payroll, employee management, and even strategic planning can be automated. This frees up time to focus on what matters most to the business, while people focus on their most critical tasks.

Key benefits of agentic AI for small business owners

Depending on the platform or service being used, small business owners could get these key benefits from agentic AI:

• Saved time and more efficiency: By automating tasks and streamlining operations, agentic AI allows small business owners to focus on higher-value activities, ultimately saving time and boosting productivity.  
• Accurate data analysis: Autonomous agentic AI systems could create a continuous feedback loop with consistent, thorough processing that flags any issues for human follow-up.
• Hands-off inventory management: Agentic AI could keep inventory up-to-date while detecting and correcting anomalies.
• Smarter bookkeeping: Agentic AI could categorize and match transactions, creating a cleaner bookkeeping system along with explanations for each decision it makes autonomously. 
• Confidence in strategic planning: Agentic AI could gather and analyze information to make strategic plans based on a full set of internal and external data points.
• Simple to use and manage: Needing only a little human prompting to fulfill its purpose, agentic AI is simple to use and could be managed in a single digital workspace. 

Small business owners should also expect to see some of the same benefits from agentic AI that they report getting from general AI use: more revenue, shorter workdays, and reduced costs. 

The benefits of agentic AI can unlock limitless potential for small businesses, their employees, and their customers. Agentic AI can move a business forward faster while building a smarter, more sustainable future for workers.

Agentic AI vs. generative AI: Key differences for business owners

Many businesses are already using some version of AI to boost productivity and efficiency. While both agentic AI and GenAI have had a powerful impact on business operations thus far, they serve distinctive functions. Agentic AI is an artificial intelligence capable of making autonomous, informed decisions with minimal human guidance. Agentic AI systems can achieve goals and execute actions through data analyzation and algorithms, freeing up business employees to be more resourceful with their time and talents. 

GenAI generates content based on existing data patterns and prompts given by humans. It creates personalized content that can fuel a business's marketing, communications, and digital presence. There are key differences between agentic AI vs GenAI and how they support small business success; there's room to use both technologies to support a thriving business.

How does agentic AI work?

Agentic AI takes in information and analyzes that data using a large language model (LLM) to independently reason, plan, and make informed, autonomous decisions. Because it's capable of monitoring its own performance, it makes adjustments and achieves goals with minimal human input. 

It can then take actions to implement its solutions. In what's called a "data flywheel," agentic AI learns from user feedback to learn and improve over time—maximizing its user's confidence in its output.

What does agentic AI do?

Agentic AI assesses complex scenarios and produces simple solutions it can enact itself. With minimal human prompting, it gives the user accurate information in a simple and efficient process. 

What that looks like depends on the function of the agentic AI: 

• It can create patient notes for doctors, resolve a customer complaint, or create a financial forecast. Agentic AI can increase humans' efficiency, use complex reasoning, and make independent decisions as a virtual assistant.

How QuickBooks uses agentic AI to help small businesses 

As of July 2025, QuickBooks features agentic AI to help its customers run their businesses more efficiently to save time and money. Intuit AI agents and human experts work together to enable small businesses to grow and find long-term success. 

Intuit AI agents manage sales opportunities, automatically collect feedback, and streamline contract workflows. Accounting and payroll are kept clean and accurate, cash flow is monitored, and financial planning is kept on track. QuickBooks provides an all-in-one platform for agentic AI to operate, where connected data and insights give small businesses the opportunity to succeed.

Real-world examples of agentic AI

Artificial intelligence has quickly become a significant part of industries across the board, and agentic AI is poised for massive worldwide growth. The global agentic AI market size is predicted to skyrocket from $7.92 billion in 2025 to $236.03 billion by 2034, according to an April 2025 market analysis by Precedence Research. 

These are a few real-world examples of how agentic AI is being used already:

• The health care industry is implementing the use of intelligent agents that can autonomously reason and navigate medical challenges with limited oversight. 
• Real estate companies are increasingly utilizing AI agents to generate property valuations, analyze market trends, and send personalized responses to buyers and sellers.
•  Agentic AI is revolutionizing the music industry. Autonomous agents are shaping, remixing, and producing music with limited human input or intervention.
• Small business owners remain in control while getting targeted support from a Customer Agent, Payments Agent, Accounting Agent, and Finance Agent in Intuit QuickBooks.

Intuit AI agents are designed to be a business’ new digital teammates. These agentic AI systems work with business owners to create more ease and efficiency.

How agentic AI can improve customer relationship management

The Intuit Customer Agent can source all leads directly from the company’s inbox. Every customer opportunity in the cycle of sales is highlighted, tracked, and reported. The entire management process, from lead generation to new potential clients, is automated. It can identify opportunities from an inbox, track customer interactions, and draft personalized emails.

As a result, businesses can optimize the process for sales, improve response times, and provide excellent levels of customer engagement with minimal time and effort. This leads to quality customer relationships with potentially higher conversion rates, effectively driving revenue growth. These agentic AI systems don't replace the relationship between businesses and their customers; they assist, manage, and enhance it. 

How agentic AI can enhance payroll management

The Intuit Payments Agent provides the benefit of an autonomous payroll administrator. Payroll tasks are conducted with precision and on time. Cash flow is seamlessly monitored and payment collection is simplified. This agent features independent data compilation, seamless system integration, and payroll processing—all while requiring human intervention only for confirmations or critical approvals.  

As a result, the administrative burden is greatly reduced, while minimizing the potential for human error. Payroll management is efficient, accurate, and timely. This allows for employees to focus on other valuable business strategies and goals.

How agentic AI can streamline bookkeeping and grow a business

The Intuit Accounting Agent keeps records accurate and manageable, while bringing red flags to attention and getting approval from accounting staff. Small and rapidly growing businesses can get big benefits from this agentic AI system. It automatically categorizes each transaction from different sales channels, flags minor and major discrepancies for review, and reconciles bank statements at the end of each day. 

With the integration of this technology, financial records are effectively kept up-to-date without the burden of constant—and fallible—human oversight. Accounts are always ready for financial analysis or audits. No longer do store managers need to anxiously dig through receipts or manually enter data. Time is freed up to focus on product selection and marketing strategies. 

How agentic AI can automate invoicing

The Intuit Finance Agent provides an analysis of data against financial plans. If ever things begin to go off track, it alerts the financial manager and offers insight solutions. For a freelancer who juggles multiple clients and struggles with consistent cash flow, both the Finance and Payment Intuit agents can be utilized. The Payment Agent in QuickBooks automatically sends out invoices once project milestones are completed and follows up with clients who have overdue payments. This works in tandem with the Finance Agent, which analyzes financial data and automatically creates forecasts to help businesses stay on track with their goals.

No more manually tracking down payments or bearing the burden of financial management. Immediate invoicing and detailed, proactive follow-ups on payments mean faster cash flow. This benefit is especially crucial for freelance budgeting. These autonomous agents stabilize income and free up the manager to focus on what really matters: creative vision, projects, and client relationships. 

Looking into the future: How agentic AI could transform small business operations

Agentic AI has the potential to transform business operations into a smoother, more efficient experience for sellers and consumers alike. According to Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Insights, more than two-thirds of these businesses use AI regularly. Platforms like Intuit QuickBooks are utilizing this new technology to reshape roles, workflows, and decision-making processes. Autonomous agents, like the Intuit AI agents, are providing long-desired simple solutions for functions like customer care, payments, accounting, and finance.

How agentic AI will help elevate small businesses

As agentic AI is integrated into small business operations, business owners, employees, and customers can expect to have an elevated experience. Both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar businesses are innovating new ways to make the most of agentic AI systems. 

Small business owners who are proactive in adapting and integrating these systems may be able to keep up with changes in technology while reaping the benefits of a more efficient business culture. Utilizing all four of Intuit's agents can simplify finance and accounting processes, while tracking client communications and payment processes—all with minimal human time invested. This has the potential to transform small business operations, boost financial accuracy, and elevate customer satisfaction.

Disadvantages and challenges of agentic AI

Agentic AI presents a revolutionary opportunity to streamline operations, increase productivity, and ultimately generate more revenue for small businesses. These benefits don't come without disadvantages and challenges. Agentic AI is doing work that humans are currently doing—which means existing workers might be displaced by AI. Although agentic AI is able to operate autonomously, it does still require human management, which requires some time and effort for oversight from business owners. Agentic AI makes decisions based on the data it has access to, which means it's crucial to make sure it's kept up-to-date.

Embracing agentic AI for enhanced business efficiency

Agentic AI promises a future with less effort, more confidence, and smarter decision-making for small businesses. By tapping into its capability to reason, plan, and execute while making informed decisions, agentic AI can do more than simply help keep a business up with competition—it can get ahead. Business owners can learn more about AI and its application in business through free and paid courses. For those ready to start saving time, QuickBooks users can transform their business with Intuit AI agents today.