Thinking vs. Executing: Understanding the Difference is Critical as Agentic AI Rewrites the Rules of Work

by Oladimeji Ojo, Darden MBA Candidate '26

"And one final piece of advice to upcoming investment executives—or whichever domain you choose—" He paused, shifted his weight, and let his confident posture relax as he looked around the room. "Make sure you actually know what that 'AI thing' is and how it works, because I don't understand any of it."

Those words cut through the polished discussions at the 25th Annual Financial Panel event hosted by UVA Darden's Richard A. Mayo Center for Asset Management and Virginia Club of New York. The speaker, Tyler Mathisen (CLAS '76)—a seasoned CNBC anchor and former Vice President of Events Strategy—had just delivered what may have been the most honest admission of the evening and it crystallized a troubling reality: while we've been debating whether AI will change work, it's already starting to do so. At the center of this transformation: Agentic AI.

What is Agentic AI?

Agentic AI is artificial intelligence that doesn't just respond to prompts but thinks, plans, and acts autonomously to achieve goals. Unlike traditional AI systems that follow pre-programmed rules or even generative AI that creates content based on prompts, agentic AI can perceive its environment, reason through complex problems, plan multi-step solutions, and execute actions independently. Think of it as the difference between a calculator that computes what you ask versus a digital colleague that understands your business challenge, researches solutions, makes decisions, and implements them while you sleep.

Companies Are Already Using Agentic AI

The transformation isn't theoretical—companies are deploying AI agents right now.

One example is Salesforce. The company is one of the most aggressive adopters of AI agents, and it recently made headlines not for what they're building, but for what they're cutting. In February 2025, the company laid off approximately 1,000 employees while simultaneously announcing plans to hire 2,000 salespeople for AI-focused roles. CEO Marc Benioff was startlingly direct about the company's calculus: "We're not going to hire any new engineers this year. We're seeing a 30% productivity increase in engineering, and we're going to really continue to ride that up."

This productivity boost stems from Salesforce's Agentforce platform, introduced in fall 2024. The AI agents have handled over 380,000 conversations through the company's help website, with humans intervening in only 2% of cases. Benioff envisions a fundamental shift: "We are the last generation of CEOs to manage only humans. I believe that every CEO in the future will manage both humans and agents together."

The Productivity Revolution: Why the Economics Have Already Shifted

The math behind these corporate decisions becomes clear when you examine broader economic projections. ARK Invest's analysis shows labor productivity—output per hour—is projected to experience its steepest growth since the 1990s technology boom and agentic AI is facilitating this growth. As Cathie Wood noted, "With AI, firms are beginning to flatten hierarchy taking middle management out. Labour productivity (output per hour) is projected to grow, meaning fewer people will begin to do more."

Labor Productivity Growth Projections - showing the steep upward trajectory since 2024, comparing it to previous technology booms. Source: ARK Invest 2025

This isn't just corporate cost-cutting—it's a fundamental rewiring of how value gets created in the economy. The productivity spike represents what economists call a "step-function change"—not gradual improvement, but a dramatic leap that reshapes entire industries within years, not decades.

Hiring by seniority level. Source: The SignalFire State of Talent Report – 2025, Signal Fire.

For MBA graduates entering the workforce, this creates a paradox: we are stepping into the most productive economy in human history, but one where traditional career ladders are being dismantled in real-time. The middle management roles that once served as stepping stones to senior leadership are exactly the positions being "flattened" by AI agents that can coordinate workflows, analyze performance data, and optimize resource allocation without human oversight.

Redefining the Workplace: Where Do Humans Thrive?

We’ve all seen headlines about how AI will replace jobs with projections on how many and which ones are at risk. But here's what the raw displacement numbers don't capture: it's not just about job elimination—it's about job redefinition.

According to Salesforce's survey of 200 global HR executives, 75% of CHROs say AI agents will increase the need for soft skills at their organization, with a focus on relationship-building roles like partnerships and account management. Companies are prioritizing collaboration and adaptability skills as employees learn to work alongside digital teammates. More telling, 89% of CHROs believe AI agents will empower them to reassign employees to new, more relevant roles.

The Skills and Roles That Survive

Darden’s Dean Scott Beardsley has spent his career studying leadership transitions, from his 26 years at McKinsey to his current role developing responsible business leaders. In his recent address to the 2025 Darden graduating class, he shared a crucial insight: in a world where artificial intelligence can process information faster and more accurately than humans, the premium isn't on what you know, it's on how you connect.

Research consistently shows that intellectual ability alone isn't enough for success. While IQ can help you get into college, it's relational quotient (RQ)—the ability to build relationships, navigate social dynamics, and inspire trust—and human intelligence (HQ)—emotional awareness and ethical judgment—that help you manage stress, lead teams, and excel in your career. Many companies now rate this intelligence as important as technical ability.

This shift is already reshaping post-MBA career trajectories. Traditional entry-level analyst roles—the bread and butter of business school recruiting—are precisely the positions most vulnerable to AI replacement. These repetitive, data-intensive jobs are AI's easiest targets, from financial analysis to market research to compliance monitoring.

Survivors are roles that require what humans do uniquely well: keeping AI itself in check, building trust, taking responsibility, making high-stakes and ethical decisions, telling business stories that sell, adapting work to technological advances, navigating ambiguity, and creating meaning from complexity. In practical terms, this means:

· Client-facing over back-office: While AI agents excel at processing transactions and managing data, relationship roles require the emotional intelligence to read between the lines, understand unstated needs, and build long-term partnerships.

· Relationship management over task execution: As 89% of CHROs believe AI agents will empower them to reassign employees to new, more relevant roles, these positions increasingly center on partnerships, account management, and stakeholder coordination.

· Creative problem-solving over routine analysis: The ability to synthesize information from multiple sources, challenge assumptions, and develop novel solutions remains distinctly human.

How to Future-Proof Your Career

The parallels to past technological disruptions are instructive. Just as the internet didn't destroy business but revolutionized how business is conducted, AI won't eliminate human work—it will fundamentally restructure what human work looks like.

· Master AI fluency without becoming dependent on it. CHROs believe AI literacy is the number one skill workers need as businesses move into the agentic economy. But there's a crucial distinction between using AI as a tool and understanding its capabilities and limitations well enough to provide strategic oversight.

· Develop your "relational quotient". While technical skills become commoditized, the ability to build authentic relationships, navigate office politics, and inspire teams becomes increasingly rare and valuable. More than four in five HR chiefs are planning to reskill their workers, with most agreeing that soft skills—like relationship building and collaboration—will be even more critical as humans work alongside agents.

· Position yourself as a translator between AI and strategy. The most valuable professionals will be those who can understand what AI can and cannot do, then bridge that capability to real business needs. This requires both technical literacy and strategic thinking—a combination that remains distinctly human.

· Invest in roles that require stakes and judgment. AI agents can process information and even make recommendations, but they can't be held accountable for outcomes. Positions that require someone to "own" results—where reputation, relationships, and long-term trust are on the line—remain human domains.

Looking Forward

Today's AI skeptics aren't wrong to be cautious. But they're asking the wrong question. The issue isn't whether AI will transform work—Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff puts it bluntly: "Agentic AI is a new labor model, new productivity model, and a new economic model." The question is whether you'll be among those who shape that transformation or those who are shaped by it.

Tyler Mathisen was right about one thing: you need to know what "that AI thing" is and how it works. But more importantly, you need to understand what it can't do—and position yourself squarely in that space.

The future belongs to those who can work alongside digital colleagues while remaining irreplaceably human. That's not just a career strategy—it's a competitive advantage that no algorithm can replicate.

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Oladimeji Ojo is a second year MBA at the UVA Darden School of Business and a Batten Entrepreneurial Scholar. Batten Scholars are chosen for their entrepreneurial spirit, strong leadership skills, and a drive to innovate, as well as a deep commitment to career and learning goals that align with the entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology focus areas of the Batten Institute.

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