AI Agents Rise: Big Four Race Toward Autonomous Workforces

LONDON, United Kingdom, 25 March 2025 – The business world is on the brink of tectonic change, and it is not just artificial intelligence – it is ​autonomous intelligence. The four major professional ​services companies – ​PwC, ​Deloitte, EY and KPMG – compete ​to redefine the workplace with intelligent ​artificial intelligence agents capable of operating ​with a minimum of ​human inputs, reshaping the functioning of organizations, ​providing services and measuring productivity.

What is Agenic AI and why is it important?

Unlike conventional AI, which ​reacts to human impulses, the AI agent is designed to ​act independently. These IA ​officers not only answer questions – ​they make decisions, take actions, collaborate and adapt. Think of them as highly capable and untiring digital partners with the potential to ​remodel all workflows.

According to IBM, AI is distinguished by its ​autonomy. It focuses on results and task implementation, rather than content creation. From autonomous vehicles to task-specific digital co-pilots, this technology ​breaks the mould of passive AI ​aid. Companies now consider AI not only as a tool, but ​as a colleague – one who does not sleep, takes no break and never needs a vacation.

PwC Bold Jump with ​Agent OS

PwC recently unveiled its OS agent, an AI orchestration system for business ​environments. It acts as ​a control center for intelligent agents, helping them work ​together through complex systems such ​as SAP, Oracle, Salesforce and OpenAI. According to the PwC announcement, the ​platform allows the perfect integration ​of AI agents, regardless of the development platform, either proprietary SDKs or open ​source frames.

PwC’s OS agent is not just to show. The company has already deployed more than 250 IA officers internally through tax, security and advisory services. ​Your impact? Great. In one ​case, a large hotel company ​reduced ​review times to 94% by deploying active workflows. Meanwhile, a global health company has improved clinical knowledge by 50% through the structuring of AI ​data and reduced administrative burdens by almost 30%.

Q: What makes PwC’s agent OS ​different?

A: It’s not just another AI platform. It acts as an AI nervous ​system, allowing agents from multiple suppliers to communicate, collaborate ​and evolve together in real time. The patent-pending orchestration system creates a visual workflow through a drag-and-drop interface, making it accessible to technical and non-technical users.

Deloitte AI Zora: A Digital Workforce in Action

On the same day, PwC introduced its OS agent, Deloitte ​gave the curtain back to ​his ​own platform: Zora Yes. Built in collaboration with Nvidia, Zora AI is designed ​to serve as a smart digital workforce. The platform ​includes agents who analyze ​sales data, manage invoices ​and support procurement tasks, release human equipment to focus on ​strategy and innovation.

As CEO of Deloitte Jason Girsadas said that Agent IA marks the beginning of the era of ​the autonomous society. Zora AI is already used by Deloitte’s financial division and it is expected ​that thousands of employees will be deployed by the end of the year. Any profit plans? 40 per cent increase in productivity and 25 per cent reduction in equipment costs, delivering thousands ​of hours per year.

Q: How is Zora AI being used today?

A: It already assists Deloitte’s ​financial teams in performing tasks such as cost processing, invoice approval and working capital optimization. The company plans to expand Zora through departments such as ​marketing, sales and customer ​service.

150 tax agents EY – Automation in Escalale

Meanwhile, EY launched the Agent EY.ai platform, with a first focus on tax compliance. According to the company, ​80,000 tax professionals will soon be accompanied by ​150 digital tax ​officers to manage everything, from ​document review to indirect tax archives. Your target? To overcome ​3 million tax compliance cases ​and redefine over 30 million tax ​processes in a year.

Raj Sharma, EY’s global management ​partner ​for growth and innovation, said IA is “financially transforming business operations.” Previous tests have already ​shown that these agents can reach up ​to 86% of response ​accuracy, exceeding generic AI models in specialized fields.

Q: ​What’s unique about EY’s approach to ​AI agents?

A: ​EY places these agents deeply in the basic institutional processes, starting ​with taxes. The company not ​only uses them to answer questions: these ​agents collect ​data, conduct compliance reviews, and evolve with changes in tax regulations.

KPMG Vision: Agents who never sleep

To avoid being left behind, ​KPMG builds a fleet of intelligent agents that combine a high IQ ​with emotional intelligence (EQ). David Netherlands, KPMG stressed that these agents ​will become partners of the digital team, able to ​manage ​customer service, ​generate ideas, ensure quality and optimize operations.

“We will soon work side by side with ​a well-trained, fast-paced agent staff with intelligence – IQ and EQ – who ignores silos, borders, ​politics ​and never sleeps,” said a KPMG spokesperson in a statement.

The company works closely with technology partners to build systems that can work with human professionals through audits, ​taxes and advice. Unlike typical chatbots, these agents will actively participate in workflows and data-based decision-making.

Q: Will ​KPMG’s agents replace jobs?

A: Although the company has ​not explicitly confirmed work cuts, the ​implication is clear: ​these ​agents are being developed to work with human personnel, but their ​speed and intelligence could make certain roles superfluous, especially those involving repetitive or rule-based tasks.

What is ​leading this ​AI arms race among the four thousand?

Competition between the Big Fours is both ​on strategic positioning ​and technology. These companies not only implement AI to simplify internal ​operations, ​but produce it, providing ​customers ​with scalable AI solutions adapted to finance, ​taxes, ​logistics, compliance and beyond.

According to Business Insider, each company is also reviewing its business ​model. EY, for example, explores a ​”service as software” approach, from billing time to billing by result. This paradigm shift requires companies to align AI’s performance directly with the value provided, a result of the traditional consultation income model.

Will human work be replaced?

That is the question ​of everyone’s mind. The short answer? Yeah, but not everything. ​Managing Director of Meta Mark Zuckerberg publicly ​stated that ​by 2025, AI can replace middle-level software engineers. IBM CEO Arvind Krishna ​estimates that 30% ​of HR roles could be automated in five years. ​And while artificial intelligence brings ​unprecedented speed and precision, the human touch – empathy, ethics, judgment – remains irreplaceable. For now.

Like any ​industrial revolution, disruption is in danger. But it also opens ​up new opportunities to kill, increase and create value in ways we ​have never seen before. Tomorrow’s work force will probably include humans and ​IV agents working side by ​side, each complementing each other’s forces.

The road ahead: cautious optimism

Agenic AI represents more than a technological ​leap ​- it is philosophical. These agents not only change our way of working, they change who does the work. While the ​four large companies continue to invest heavily, small and small businesses will soon follow. The question is not whether Agent IA will become the ​norm – that is when the future will come.

But let’s be clear: ​the passive ​IV era is over. ​The age of the agents ​has begun. And those who embrace him wisely can not only survive, but prosper in a world where machines do more than calculate – they collaborate.