2026 is the Year of AI Agents
Full Professor, Esade
Why 2026 could be the tipping point for AI agents, and who adopts first.
Esteve Almirall
Full Professor at Esade
Esteve Almirall is a Full Professor at Esade Business School in Barcelona. He studies how organisations and societies adopt AI, and why competitive pressure decides how fast each sector moves.
The conversation with Esteve
Esteve Almirall is a Full Professor at Esade Business School. In the podcast's first episode he explains why 2026 could be the tipping point for AI agents, and why adoption moves at very different speeds across sectors. Competitive intensity is the deciding factor: technology and consulting firms adopt quickly because they have to, while industries with little competition feel less pressure to innovate. As he puts it, the shift is not only about the technology but about how society takes it up.
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