As enterprises explore how agentic platforms can transform their operations, one factor rises above the hype: delivering business value with speed and clarity.

Technology may be evolving fast, but adoption depends on embedding governance and security into every step to ensure business value, according to Tim Crawford (pictured), chief information officer strategic advisor with AVOA.

AVOA’s Tim Crawford (right) talks with theCUBE about context and governance in shaping agentic AI adoption.

“I think we’re talking about a much deeper conversation about the opportunity from agentic for the enterprise and how it impacts business,” he said. “We’re also having a very serious conversation about governance and security, not just in the U.S., but globally. Those two are going to change how we think about technology and the intersection of business and technology. Many people are not even thinking about it, let alone talking about it — and we need to be.”

Crawford 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. The discussion centered on context and governance, themes that Crawford emphasized as critical for shaping how enterprises will approach agentic platforms. (* Disclosure below.)

Context is king in agentic artificial intelligence

The defining factor for how enterprises can make agentic platforms useful is context, according to Crawford. Data integration alone is not enough; platforms must interpret workflows in ways that align directly with business value and priorities.

“Workato is another one of those opportunities for the enterprise to take a look at and say, ‘OK, who has the right tooling? Who’s really moving ahead and is going to get me to be able to achieve those business objectives that I want to achieve?’” Crawford said. “One of the things that I find really interesting about Workato is how they’re plugging into that last mile, not just for data integration, but the context. They’re talking about the context. This is a big deal because it’s often missed in many of these agentic conversations … ‘Where’s the context of the data in all this?’”

That complexity extends into governance. Workato Inc. is positioning its platform as a way to accelerate and extend existing tools rather than replace them, with the goal of driving measurable business value — a message that resonated with Crawford.

“I think it is a really powerful statement to make, especially when you start to think about how [Workato has] approached the Genies in the workflow,” he said. “But there is a little bit of squeamishness here, too, in the conversation, which is around governance. Everybody’s trying to figure out [the] governance thing … because when you start to go beyond the users to the agents to the knowledge, it gets complicated really fast.”

From business value to outcomes that matter

Enterprises don’t adopt technology for its own sake. They prioritize what Crawford calls the “big three”: customer experience, employee experience and business operations. The question is how to automate parts of that journey quickly enough to deliver measurable business value.

“One of the things that we have to focus on is what’s important to the business?” Crawford said. “What’s important to the company? That comes down to … CX, EX and business ops. The CX Genie is really key in this conversation. [Configure, price, quote is] obviously just one piece of it. But starting to figure out, ‘How I can automate parts of that journey and do it very, very quickly so my time to value is a lot faster?’ That’s really important. That means that when I’m making these investments, I’m seeing the return right away or relatively short order.”

Enterprises must shorten the time it takes to reach outcomes, avoid fragile architectures that create new tech debt and build flexible frameworks that allow them to pivot as customers shift. For Crawford, the real question is how quickly results arrive and how much investment is required to get there.

“The AI is a means to an end, but it’s the end that we’re all focused on, and that end is that business value,” he said. “So, if you can start to shorten the time you get to that value, that puts you in pole position against your competition.”

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