The Agentic Workforce, Part 1: Do Not Start With the Org Chart
The first agentic workforce question is not who reports to whom. It is what work should move, pause, escalate, or stay human.
Source basis: Wharton Online, Leading an AI-Powered Future
When leaders imagine an AI workforce, they often jump to the org chart.
I would not start there.
The better starting point is the flow of work. What moves through the organization every day? What gets delayed? What gets reworked? What requires a senior person to intervene? What creates legal, client, quality, or reputational risk?
Only after that should leaders ask where AI agents belong.
An agentic workforce is not a stack of bots. It is a redesigned operating system. Some work should be handled by humans. Some should be done by humans with AI. Some should be delegated to agents with controls. Some should be protected from automation because trust matters more than speed.
That distinction is where executive judgment enters.
The Wharton posture I like here is value creation first. AI should not be implemented because it is interesting. It should be implemented where it changes the economics, quality, speed, or resilience of the business.
The org chart comes later.
First map the work. Then decide what kind of capacity each piece deserves.