Companies deploy AI agents to streamline executive work

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AI agents streamline executive work

Highlights

Senior executives at firms including Microsoft, Nvidia, Meta, Airbnb, and Morningstar are integrating generative AI and custom agentic tools to support board preparation, research, and internal communications.
AI adoption by executives is driving significant efficiency gains, with Brian Chesky at Airbnb reporting a halving of required meetings and Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor prioritizing high AI usage in hiring decisions.
Despite increasing uptake, a National Bureau of Economic Research report finds over 20% of executives in seven countries do not use AI at work, reflecting ongoing caution and concerns about trust, job security, and AI limitations.

Executive adoption expands beyond tech groups

As reported by the Financial Times, agentic tools are moving from experimentation into daily executive use, with leaders applying generative AI systems to tasks such as preparing board papers, condensing research and tracking internal information flows.

Among large technology groups, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says he uses at least 10 custom Copilot agents that he describes as AI chiefs of staff. Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang says he uses AI as a tutor, while Meta is creating an avatar of CEO Mark Zuckerberg to engage with staff on his behalf.

Use is also spreading to smaller and less AI-centric businesses. Christian Nentwich, chief executive of British agentic AI developer Duco, says he built a critic agent that monitors his meetings, emails and messages to assess whether he is focusing on the right priorities. Rob Hornby, co-chief executive of consultancy AlixPartners, says he uses AI to research, test arguments and critique his writing, although he keeps control of the first draft and warns that the technology can hallucinate citations.

Pippa Begg, chief executive of UK advisory firm Board Intelligence, says AI adoption has to start with senior leadership if companies are serious about integrating the technology. She uses an AI avatar, a digital version of herself, in videos instead of company-wide emails in some circumstances, though she says it cannot replace bringing staff together directly.

Efficiency gains bring workforce and leadership questions

Many of the executives using these tools say the main benefit is freeing time for strategic work, as AI takes on tasks such as presentation building and drafting board materials. Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky says he developed an internal intelligence layer from thousands of keynote slides, Google Docs and other company information, and says it has halved the number of meetings he needs.

The wider adoption of AI is also changing expectations for employees. Morningstar chief executive Kunal Kapoor says he reviewed applicants' AI token spending in a recent internal hiring process and excluded some candidates with low usage, saying he is not looking to place someone in a role that would have been acceptable two years ago.

At the same time, some executives and support staff remain cautious. A National Bureau of Economic Research report published this month finds that more than one-fifth of surveyed executives in Australia, Canada, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, the UK and the U.S. do not use AI at work, with average weekly use of 2.1 hours.

Concerns also extend to personal trust and job security. Rosemary Parr, founder of the Global PA Association, says personal assistants are nervous that AI-equipped chief executives could leave them understretched, although she teaches assistants how to use the technology to ease that pressure. Nick Murray-Leslie, chief executive of Chatsworth Communications, rejects the idea of letting a machine speak for him to clients or staff, arguing that relationships depend on trust, judgment and personal chemistry.

Even committed users stop short of treating AI as a substitute for human support. Hornby says his assistant is far better than any electronic equivalent and argues that AI works best when it helps people manage workload while preserving the parts of the job that most depend on human expertise, empathy and experience.

Our earlier article on a KPMG survey of U.S. CEOs highlighted that AI agents are already delivering incremental efficiency and growth gains, even as only a small share of leaders see them as transformational so far. It also noted that most executives expect AI to reshape skills and workflows through retraining and continued investment—often alongside hiring growth rather than near-term headcount cuts.

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