AI Agents Are Leading the Way, and KM Has a Critical Role to Play

At the beginning of December 2025, Forbes published its list of 8 Tech Trends Transforming Enterprise in 2026 (the one and only Bernard Marr). 

The first two trends point clearly to where knowledge work is heading, and both focus on AI and agents.

Agentic Platforms

These are the next stage of enterprise AI: not conversational tools, but autonomous doers.

They run multi-step processes, interact with external systems, keep operations flowing in real time, and behave like virtual co-workers.

Their platforms provide the structure needed for governance, compliance, and safe scaling.

GenAI Assistants

These are human-augmenting companions that strengthen our work.

They help with drafting, summarizing, clarifying, recommending and accelerating knowledge tasks, while people remain fully in control.

To put it simply: Agentic platforms act FOR you, and GenAI assistants think WITH you. 

As these technologies evolve, one insight becomes increasingly clear to me:
AI can only create real impact whenknowledge and needs are understood, shaped and guided. This is exactly where KMers bring their unique value.
We are not observers of the AI era, we help make it meaningful.