2025 has been called “the year of AI agents,” and for good reason. The use of AI agents in Brazilian companies grew by more than 100% in the first half of the year alone, especially in sectors such as finance, retail, services, and telecommunications. But what exactly are these technologies?

What is an AI Agent?

Unlike a traditional chatbot, which only answers questions, an AI agent acts. These systems not only respond to commands but also perceive their environment, plan, and autonomously execute complex tasks.

The most accurate analogy is that of a digital employee with autonomy: you define the goal, and it decides how to achieve it by using tools, accessing data, and making decisions along the way.

If we visualize the components of an agent, we find:

Perception: reads the environment (emails, systems, data)
Reasoning: plans steps to achieve the objective
Action: performs tasks in external tools (CRM, ERP, APIs)
Memory: learns and adapts based on historical interactions

What are the main functionalities of an AI agent?

Automation of complex processes: Agents can manage entire workflows, from email triage, report generation, scheduling, to data analysis, without human intervention at every step.
System integration: AI agents can integrate different data sources such as CRM, ERP, economic indicators, and sales history, automating complex analyses and making predictions more consistent and actionable.
Customer service and customer experience: 69% of retailers using AI agents reported significant revenue growth thanks to personalized shopping experiences.
Reduction of time spent on repetitive tasks: In HR departments, agents automate 75% of resume screening tasks, freeing professionals for more strategic activities.
Predictive maintenance and operations: In manufacturing, predictive maintenance performed by AI agents reduced downtime by 40%, generating significant savings in repair costs.

The numbers you need to know

The global AI market was valued at US$294 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach US$2.48 trillion by 2034, with an annual growth rate of 26.6%.
The global AI agent market is expected to surpass US$7.6 billion by the end of 2025.
AI-mature companies reported average productivity gains of 14% and up to 9% improvement in financial results.
79% of companies have already adopted AI agents, and 98% planned to use AI by the end of 2025, according to HubSpot data.
67% of Brazilian companies selected AI as their top strategic innovation priority.

Where are AI agents already operating?

Financial sector: fraud detection, credit analysis, and collection automation.
Healthcare: imaging diagnostics, patient triage, SUS consultation queue management, and hospital network organization.
Retail: personalized recommendations and inventory management.
HR: resume screening and automated onboarding.
Public sector: customer service chatbots and service simplification.

What comes next?

In 2025, AI agents began transforming the demand for software platforms, allowing companies to fill gaps in existing systems such as ERPs. The trend for the coming years is the proliferation of sector-specific specialized agents and the consolidation of open communication standards between them.

The role of managers is also changing. Instead of being task executors and supervisors, they are becoming process designers and result auditors, supervising and training AI agents, defining strategic objectives, and ensuring alignment with ethics and business outcomes.

Stop thinking, “Should we use AI agents?” and start thinking, “How will we use them intelligently?”

Have you already experimented with an AI agent in your work?

The integrated intelligence ecosystem ATLANTAR includes its technology company, SPO. It specializes in creating autonomous AI agents (such as SUSI and IAgro) that learn from organizational data to automate complex processes.

Through research and partnerships with universities such as Unisinos, USP, and UCS, SPO builds bridges between the digital and the human worlds to generate sustainable social and economic impact.