Welcome executives and professionals. Most organizations optimize existing operations with AI. But the real performance gap emerges when some create entirely new capabilities.

Since the previous edition, we have reviewed hundreds of the latest insights in agentic and generative AI, spanning best practices, case studies, market dynamics, and innovations.

This briefing outlines what is driving material value — and why it’s important.

In today’s briefing:

• IBM: Agentic AI’s strategic ascent.

• Bain unpacks OpenAI’s 2025 Dev Day.

• The evolution of enterprise architecture.

• How AI is changing software development.

• Transformation and technology in the news.

• Career opportunities & events.

Read time: 4 minutes.

OPERATING MODEL REINVENTION

IBM: Agentic AI’s strategic ascent

Brief: The IBM Institute for Business Value surveyed 800 C-suite executives across 20 countries and 19 industries to assess the impact of agentic AI on enterprise performance, leadership priorities, and operating models.

Breakdown:

• Agentic AI will increasingly make everyday decisions, while humans focus on the most strategic ones, preserving expertise and accountability.

• The performance gap is widening fast. Transformation-driven enterprises are using AI to create new business capabilities at global scale.

• Over 75% of executives say their AI investments focus on improving existing processes, not yet on building entirely new capabilities.

• Yet 78% believe capturing full value from agentic AI requires a new, always-on operating model where humans and systems learn together.

• IBM outlines five starting steps: set clear goals, begin with high-value areas, refine KPIs, scale what works, and build a learning culture.

Why it’s important: As companies move from experimenting with AI to scaling it, leading executives are asking a deeper question: “What if we rebuild our operating model around AI?” A growing cohort already is, and they’re unlocking new capabilities and outcomes once thought impossible.

INNOVATION INSIGHT

Bain unpacks OpenAI’s 2025 Dev Day

Brief: Bain’s analysis of OpenAI’s 2025 Developer Day shows AI entering its platform phase. What began as developer tools are now modular enterprise systems: apps, agents, and models embedding intelligence.

Breakdown:

• OpenAI’s new Apps SDK lets developers build apps directly inside ChatGPT, marking an “App Store moment” redefining software.

• AgentKit introduces Agent Builder, ChatKit, and a Connector Registry, giving teams tools to design, deploy, and manage AI agents.

• With Codex now generally available and supported by an SDK, AI can review, write, and maintain code as a governed digital teammate.

• Sora 2 and new mini models make generating video, audio, and images faster, cheaper, and realistic, turning multimedia into a core workflow.

• Updates to GPT-5 Pro, Sora 2, and Mini Realtime APIs show OpenAI’s focus on developers as the foundation of its next growth phase.

Why it’s important: Together, these releases signal AI’s evolution into a living business platform. Enterprises are moving from using AI to operating on it, where agents, models, and apps orchestrate workflows, automate decisions, and personalize products, accelerating innovation and operational speed.

ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE

The evolution of enterprise architecture

Brief: BCG Platinion’s two-part series (part 1, part 2) explores how enterprise architecture, underpinning the internet, smartphones, and cloud innovations has evolved over 25 years and is now central to boardroom AI conversations.

Breakdown:

• Enterprise architecture evolved from three-tiers (app, presentation, data) in the 2000s to API-first, microservice, and event-driven in the 2010s.

• By the 2020s, fog computing bridged the gap between the cloud and edge devices, pushing intelligence closer to where data is created.

• In the AI era, architecture must be data-centric, modular, cloud-native, and increasingly autonomous to support adaptive, scalable systems.

• Microservices, event-driven models, and low-code platforms are increasingly important for changeability and scalability.

• AIOps and predictive analytics are reshaping operations, creating self-healing, continuously optimized systems powered by LLMs.

Why it’s important: From three-tier architectures in the 2000s to fog computing in the 2020s, architectures have evolved from monolithic systems into intelligent, distributed platforms. Despite the pace of change, one principle has remained the same, like algorithms, good architecture is invisible but vital.

OPPORTUNITY INSIGHT

How AI is changing software development

Brief: Silicon Valley VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) shared the latest on how AI is transforming software development, redefining coding workflows, and creating new agentic categories with trillions in potential economic impact.

Breakdown:

• a16z projects AI-driven software development could generate $3T annually in economic value, roughly equal to the entire GDP of France.

• The firm maps the emerging AI coding stack (image above), showing where startups are building AI tools across the SDLC.

• The AI workflow: Plan → Code → Review, starts with an LLM describing features, identifying needed decisions, and planning implementation.

• Code generation is typically done through agentic loops that test/refine outputs before developers review, validate, and adjust the AI’s work.

• Beyond tools meant for human developers, a separate category of tools has emerged that are explicitly built to be used by agents.

Why it’s important: The first major generative AI market to emerge is software development, a surprise at first, since dev tools were never among the biggest software categories. But it makes sense: the potential market spans nearly every industry that runs on code.

BCG shared that to win in agentic commerce, retailers must optimize visibility on AI platforms, build proprietary experiences, and strengthen AI ops.

Air Street Capital published its 8th annual State of AI Report, 313 slides covering AI research, industry trends, politics, and safety insights.

McKinsey outlined how front-runners leveraging AI to enhance customer experience can unlock value through conversions and retention.

Deloitte discussed The AI Reimagination Imperative and announced plans to roll out Claude across its 470,000 global employees.

EY’s survey of 975 C-suite leaders explores how AI delivers best results when embedded responsibly, improving profits, engagement, and reducing errors.

Andreessen Horowitz highlighted how firms like OpenAI and Anthropic, once seen as infrastructure providers, are now moving further up the AI stack.

Bain Capital Ventures explored how Echelon uses RL agents to transform IT services and reduce reliance on labor-intensive consulting.

State of LLMs 2025 analyzes leading AI models, comparing architecture, benchmarks, pricing, and key differentiators across the landscape.

Google launched Gemini Enterprise, unifying its workplace AI tools into one platform for employees to create, deploy, and manage agents.

Amazon introduced Quick Suite, an agentic platform connecting data across apps so users can research, automate workflows, and take actions.

OpenAI’s Dev Day 2025 unveiled new ChatGPT app integrations, agent-building tools, and expanded API access to models like Sora 2 for developers.

Anthropic detailed Claude 4.5 Sonnet’s cybersecurity advances and added plugin support for Claude Code, enabling shared custom agents and tools.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced new Sora features: revenue sharing and tighter controls, after the app hit 627K downloads in its first week.

Google previewed Gemini 2.5 Computer Use and unveiled CodeMender, an AI agent that automatically detects and fixes software vulnerabilities.

Microsoft named Judson Althoff CEO of its commercial business, freeing Satya Nadella to focus more directly on product innovation and technology.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed ChatGPT now exceeds 800M weekly users, with its API processing more than six billion tokens every minute.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Citi - AI & Data Senior Vice President

Microsoft - AI Transformation Strategy Director

Dentsu - AI Innovation Vice President

EVENTS

McKinsey & Company - Agentic AI in Enterprise - November 11, 2025

Microsoft - Microsoft Ignite - November 18–20, 2025

Packt - Agentic AI in Production - November 20-21, 2025

Originally conceived as a practical communication for executives the editor, Lewis Walker, has worked with, this briefing now serves as a trusted resource for thousands of senior decision-makers shaping the future of enterprise AI.

If your AI product or service adds value to this audience, contact us for information on a limited number of sponsorship opportunities.

We also welcome feedback as we continue to refine the briefing.