Agentic orchestration is emerging as the next frontier in enterprise artificial intelligence, uniting automation and orchestration into a single system designed to power business-critical processes. Instead of treating these layers as separate functions, organizations are beginning to see their greatest value when built together as one framework for efficiency and growth.

What makes this shift significant is that it pushes AI adoption beyond surface-level pilots and into the operational core of the enterprise. By aligning orchestration with KPI-driven agents, businesses are not just experimenting with technology — they are building systems that reduce complexity, accelerate decision-making and create measurable outcomes that touch both productivity and revenue, according to Chandar Pattabhiram (pictured), chief go-to-market officer of Workato Inc.

Workato’s Chandar Pattabhiram discusses how agentic orchestration unites AI and automation.

“We define the formula that an agent equals AI plus orchestration,” he said. “Think about how do you make these agents for critical business processes, whether they order to cash or purchase to pay, not just some small agents on the side, like marketing sending emails or doing coding. What does that mean is orchestration and agentic? The two layers, can’t be thought of as two different things. It’s got to be thought of as one thing. It’s one indivisible thing.”

Pattabhiram spoke with theCUBE’s Savannah Peterson and Rob Strechay at the WOW: World of Workato event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed how agentic orchestration unites AI and automation to deliver measurable business outcomes. (* Disclosure below.)

Building the foundation for agentic orchestration

A central theme is that agentic orchestration cannot succeed without the right foundation. Modernizing the enterprise tech stack is essential to create the “bottom layer” that allows the orchestration and agentic layers to work together as one unified system. When done right, companies can accelerate adoption of business-critical agents that directly support measurable outcomes, according to Pattabhiram.

“For any cake to taste good, you got to have fresh ingredients,” he said. “The fresh ingredients starts with modernizing — make the lower layer fresh. To make the lower layer of the cake fresher is about modernizing the stack … 618 organizations over the last couple of years, 24 months, have gone from these legacy platforms … into a more modern stack.”

This layered approach is what differentiates depth from hype. Some companies boast tens of thousands of agents, but without orchestration tied to KPIs, those claims fall apart. True agents are not measured in volume, but in their ability to automate business processes such as inventory allocation, credit checks and sales operations, Pattabhiram explained.

“The only company I know that has 50,000 agents is State Farm. I don’t think any software company is delivering 50,000 agents,” he said. “Maybe agent is a small way of some random definition but not the way that we want to define it, which is: A true agent is something that is KPI-driven, that can drive at the core of your business not at the edge of your business, at your core …  you can’t have 50,000 of those.”

The long-term impact of agentic orchestration extends beyond technology, bringing IT and business teams closer together. By democratizing access to agents through platforms such as Workato GO, employees across functions can engage directly with automation tools that align with organizational goals. That combination of orchestration, governance and business-driven outcomes is what makes this shift durable.

“It’s all about the people here, the agentic orchestration community. The best thing for them is [to] discern what’s real from what’s hype,” Pattabhiram said. “How do I have these right foundation elements here and how do I choose the right layers on top, the icing, the genies, for me to actually get something that is actionable and move the needle for my business. That’s really make this actionable, real grounded, be where your feet are, don’t be where the billboards are … that is really important from our perspective.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the WOW: World of Workato event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the WOW: World of Workato event. Neither Workato Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE