Workplace of the future: How humans and digital colleagues will work together

A survey shows 78% of New Zealand business leaders plan to use AI agents as digital team members in the next 12 to 18 months. Photo / 123RF

• Survey shows 78% of New Zealand business leaders plan to use AI agents as digital team members in the next two years.
• Businesses where AI agents are being used to take on decision-making roles are outperforming their peers.
• While human-agent teams will be the future, human expertise remains essential.

The New Zealand workplace will look very different in the next five years, with humans and digital colleagues working together, according to a new report from Microsoft.

Microsoft’s annual Work Trend Index, a global survey which included 1000 NZ business leaders, highlighted the role AI agents are set to play, including increased decision-making abilities.

According to the survey, 78% of NZ business leaders say they’re confident they’ll use AI agents as digital team members to expand workforce capacity in the next 12 to 18 months.

It comes amid a productivity crunch with 79% of the workforce – both employees and leaders – saying they’re lacking enough time or energy to do their work.

Lucy Debono, Microsoft Australia and NZ’s modern work business director, said the findings reinforce the new business reality.

“Most businesses are already using AI to automate tasks, but the next phase will see agents join teams as ‘digital colleagues’, taking on specific tasks such as building a go-to-market plan or internal communications strategy under human supervision,” Debono said.

“The final step will be seeing agents run entire business processes and workflows.”

Agentic AI refers to intelligent systems that can independently perform tasks, adapt to context, and make decisions on a user’s behalf, essentially acting as trusted digital co-workers.

The report found that Frontier Firms – businesses where AI agents are being used to take on decision-making roles – are outperforming their peers.

Globally, 71% of Frontier Firm workers are twice as likely to say their company is thriving compared to just 37% on average, and are more than twice as likely to say they are able to take on more work.

Lucy Debono, Microsoft Australia and New Zealand’s modern work business director.

Almost half (47%) of NZ business leaders are already using AI agents, according to the report.

“These agents will help boost employee skills and free them to do more meaningful work and reshape how they work,” Debono said.

“This technology is not a distant concept. It is already here and being adopted... including some early adopters in NZ.

“As cloud infrastructure and AI maturity in NZ continue to evolve, we expect agentic AI to become a core part of how NZ organisations operate within the next 12 to 24 months.”

Human expertise essential

While human-agent teams will be the future, Debono emphasises human expertise remains essential.

She said it was a dangerous misconception that AI can simply replace people.

“Replacing people with AI might seem efficient in the short term, but it erodes resilience and innovation. Leaders must stop seeing this as a binary choice. It’s not AI or people - it’s both.

“The fact that nearly three quarters of leaders intend to hire AI-focused roles in the new year is a clear sign that AI is transforming work, not eliminating it.”

Debono said employees often turned to AI to get help rather than asking a colleague because it’s available 24/7 and can do a task faster.

“But it’s going to take a long time before it can match the judgment of a human being,” she said.

“Not every business function will change at the same pace, or to the same degree.”

The rise of the ‘agent boss’

The shift towards an increased use of agentic AI will see the rise of what Microsoft calls the ‘agent boss’ – where every employee is responsible for directing both human and digital workers.

However, a disconnect exists between business leaders (70%) who are familiar with AI agents and employees (29%).

“AI agents are about to become part of every team and every workflow. But if only leaders understand how to use them, we’re setting up a two-speed workforce,” Debono said.

“Closing that gap is not a tech rollout issue: it’s a leadership challenge, and a massive opportunity to support Kiwi workers in their confidence and capability to leverage agentic AI.”

Cameron Smith is an Auckland-based journalist with the Herald business team. He joined the Herald in 2015 and has covered business and sports. He reports on topics such as retail, small business, the workplace and macroeconomics.