THE evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) has always followed a familiar pattern: speculation, experimentation, disruption, and then transformation.
For years, discussions around Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) revolved around theoretical possibilities, imagining machines with human-level cognition reshaping society.
Yet, instead of AGI providing a lasting breakthrough, we witnessed an accelerated pathway through Generative AI, which changed the world not by replicating the mind, but by augmenting creativity, productivity, and knowledge work on a vast scale.
Generative AI mainstreamed the idea that machines could meaningfully assist in tasks requiring language, imagery, coding, and strategic reasoning. It offered a glimpse of what human–machine collaboration could become.
But as technology progressed, a new paradigm began to form: Agentic AI (AAI) – systems that do not merely generate output but can act, reason, plan, and execute on behalf of users across complex, multi-step workflows.
To put the scenario in more layman’s terms, if Generative AI is an assistant, Agentic AI is the autonomous co-worker, reshaping how work is performed, how value is created, and how decisions are made.
Enhancements in AI technology not only improve work efficiency and accuracy, but also fundamentally redefine entrepreneurship in five distinct ways.
1. Accelerates work and elevates decision quality
Where Generative AI helps us to create and draft, Agentic AI goes further by orchestrating tasks, running simulations, analysing alternatives, and executing decisions with speed and precision.
For entrepreneurs, this represents a dual advantage.
Firstly, workflows that once required teams now occur in minutes.
Market research, customer segmentation, financial modelling, and operational optimisation are no longer sequential tasks but parallel, automated processes.
Secondly, and more critically, decision quality improves.
Agentic AI draws from vast, real-time data sources, reduces cognitive biases, and tests multiple scenarios before recommending a pathway forward.
As marketing guru Philip Kotler highlighted, the need for a disciplined and analytical approach to marketing thinking is essential.
With Agentic AI, entrepreneurs can now balance insight, creativity, and analytical rigour at scale.
This allows them not just to work more efficiently, but also to think more accurately and act more strategically.
2. Elevates human productivity and purpose instead of replacing humans
Fears that AI will replace human workers overlook its true potential.
Agentic AI is not about replacement but augmentation.
By handling repetitive, low-value tasks, it frees entrepreneurs and teams to focus on high-impact work: creative problem solving, decision-making, relationship building, and innovation.
With operational burdens reduced, humans can tackle real societal challenges – sustainability, inclusive development, health access, and cultural preservation.
Productivity gains serve a purpose, channeling attention toward meaningful outcomes.
This purpose-driven approach aligns innovation with societal needs, enabling initiatives that extend beyond profit to create lasting, positive impact.
3. Escalates the gig economy
The gig economy offered flexible alternatives to traditional work, driven by digital platforms.
Agentic AI now amplifies this model, enabling individuals – regardless of scale, capital, or location – to provide professional-grade services once limited to large organisations.
With networks of personalised AI agents, a single person can handle marketing, finance, legal, design, and operations at near-enterprise quality.
This fuels the growth of skill-based micro-entrepreneurs whose expertise is amplified by AI.
By enhancing decision-making, execution, and strategic impact, Agentic AI shifts the gig economy from basic tasks to advanced, high-value entrepreneurial ventures, accelerating innovation, competitiveness, and scalable value creation.
4. The rise of the entrepreneurial workforce With Agentic AI embedded into daily workflows, organisations may begin to restructure.
Instead of relying heavily on full-time employees, companies may increasingly operate as ecosystems of independent contributors, each functioning like a minientrepreneur.
These contributors, supported by AI agents, may deliver outputs faster and with more autonomy.
Organisations evolve into platform-driven enterprises that coordinate networks of expert entrepreneur-contributors.
This shift transforms the meaning of employment.
The traditional boundary between employees and entrepreneurs becomes more fluid.
People increasingly manage their own AI-powered workflows, negotiate project-based contributions, define revenue streams, and build personal brands and portfolios.
Essentially, every individual becomes an independent entrepreneur integrated into organisational ecosystems.
With the support of Agentic AI, the concept of the “molecular-preneur” may emerge as a precise framework to describe this phenomenon.
5. Entrepreneurship is for everyone in the age of Agentic AI
With tools once requiring years of specialised training now accessible via intelligent agents, barriers to entrepreneurship have dropped dramatically.
The entrepreneurial mindset, once seen as the domain of a daring few, is increasingly recognised as essential for everyone.
Today’s interconnected economy sees markets co-created not just between organisations and consumers but also among AI-empowered entrepreneurs contributing unique insights.
In the era of Agentic AI, entrepreneurship extends beyond starting a business to identifying unmet needs, generating innovative solutions, collaborating, and creating societal value.
Distinctive market positioning, historically challenging for newcomers, can now be guided by AI-driven insights and predictive analytics.
However, AI’s effectiveness depends on the quality of its inputs, from internal or external data.
A strong entrepreneurial mindset – blending creativity, strategic thinking, and ethical judgment – is indispensable, transcending technical skills.
AI does not replace entrepreneurship; it amplifies it, enabling more people to make meaningful economic and social impact.
Practical advice to entrepreneurs: Embrace AI with purpose, not fear
AI should not be pursued solely for efficiency or profit but as a tool to address meaningful problems.
It must be leveraged to define one’s niche and create societal impact.
Agentic AI multiplies both productivity and intent, amplifying outcomes when aligned with societal advancement – improving health, culture, environment, and communities.
Entrepreneurs should adopt AI purposefully, collaborate, and cocreate solutions using human and artificial intelligence. Impact must precede wealth; serving society generates natural value and opportunity.
In the age of Agentic AI, entrepreneurship becomes a societal responsibility, enabling innovation that is deeply human, purpose-driven, and transformative.
• Professor Brian Wong, Faculty of Business, Design and Arts, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus.
The views expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of Sarawak Tribune. The writer can be reached at mvoon@ swinburne.edu.my
