TLDR: DeepL, has released the results of a survey comprising 5,000 executives in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan about how AI and AI agents will shape the workplace next year.

Let’s dig in.

AI will be the primary agent of business growth.

We’ll start with the most controversial aspect of AI, job losses. With many companies pointing to the technology as the reason for headcount reduction (not everyone believes them) it may be difficult to see how it leads to more opportunities. Well, according to the survey, more than half, 51%, of global business leaders believe AI will create more new roles next year than it will replace, while 52% say that AI skills will be required for most new hires. And that shouldn’t come as a surprise, we see workflow automation skills increasingly popping up in job advertisements either asking for familiarity with LLMs or creating end-to-end workflow automations for sales, marketing and administrative roles.

And if AI skills will be required for most new hires, it should follow that these companies are experiencing rising ROI from their AI initiatives, and this is what the survey points to—it over two-thirds, 67%, of respondents report rising ROI from their AI initiatives this year and more than half, 52%,  expect AI to contribute more to company growth than any other technology next year.

Split by countries (see below) at 80%, the U.K. leads in measurable business performance and id closely followed by Germany, while Japan lags at just 35%, which the survey says points to slower adoption and readiness.

And what about AI agents?

Honing in on AI agents, the data is equally compelling with agents expected to become the next enterprise disruptor as nearly half, 44%, of business leaders expect major transformation from agentic AI in 2026, with another 25% saying this is already underway. Furthermore, survey participants reported that the top three drivers of confidence in AI agents include proven ROI and efficiency (22%), workforce adaptability (18%), and growing enterprise readiness (18%).