Agentic AI Is Advancing Rapidly. Experts at the AI Research Forum Will Decode its Impact.

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Autonomous AI agents are no longer abstract constructs. They are collaborative systems capable of goal-directed behavior, combining memory, planning, tool use, and reasoning to function with increasing autonomy. 

According to the AI Agent Index, a registry curated by MIT, the deployment of agentic AI systems is steadily increasing. While some systems in the index were initially deployed in early 2023, nearly half of the 67 tracked systems in the Index were released after mid-2024. These agents are being adopted across diverse domains such as software engineering, web automation, data science, education, and customer service. 

Yet, despite their growing influence, the Index reveals a significant governance gap. Only 19% of the listed systems publicly disclose any form of safety or risk mitigation protocols. While many systems claim sophisticated capabilities like long-term memory and self-reflection, very few offer transparent documentation. This growing gap between capability and governance highlights the urgent need for standards, accountability, and strategic oversight—especially as these systems begin to shape enterprise and societal infrastructure.

A Forum to Navigate the Next Frontier

The AI Research Forum (AIRF), specially curated for the region and hosted by MIT Sloan Management Review Middle East, provides a much-needed lens of clarity. With the aim to decode the fast-evolving field, AIRF bridges cutting-edge academic insight with practical industry experience, offering a grounded exploration of the most urgent themes in AI today.

This year, the forum takes a deep dive into agentic AI—equipping leaders with the knowledge and tools to harness autonomy-driven systems to drive innovation, enhance operational efficiency, and create long-term strategic value. To achieve this, we bring together leading researchers, academic pioneers, and technology experts from across the region and around the world.

What’s Hype, What’s Real, and What’s Next?

Dylan Hadfield-Menell, a leading authority on AI alignment and human-in-the-loop systems, will explore the real-world boundaries of agentic AI—where it excels and where it must defer to human oversight. The Assistant Professor at MIT CSAIL and Director of the Algorithmic Alignment Group will also highlight the critical role of frameworks that promote safe, transparent, and value-aligned behavior in autonomous systems, particularly in high-stakes or ambiguous scenarios.

Professor and Chair in Digital Economy at QUT Business School and a globally recognized thought leader, Marek Kowalkiewicz, will explore how agentic AI is fundamentally transforming economic systems—from how labor is organized and capital is allocated to how value is created and measured. He will offer insight into how business leaders must rethink traditional economic assumptions and leadership models in an age where autonomous agents increasingly shape productivity and performance.

Munther Dahleh, Founding Director of the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), will bring in a systems-level view of AI’s strategic potential. His session will address how agentic AI can be embedded into complex systems to enhance resilience. 

In his keynote, Tim Kraska, Associate Professor at MIT CSAIL and Co-Director of the Data System and AI Lab (DSAIL), will offer a clear-eyed assessment of autonomous AI’s capabilities and limitations. Kraska will cut through the hype to present what’s technically feasible today, what remains aspirational, and what foundational governance and infrastructure are required to responsibly scale these systems across industries.

As AI agents become more capable collaborators, redefining how people and machines work together becomes a central challenge. During a panel on how organizations can design environments that foster genuine partnership between human creativity and machine autonomy, Dr. Dirk Jungnickel, SVP of Enterprise & Analytics & Intelligence at Emirates, and Srimanth Rudraraju, Group Director of Engineering at the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), will share practical examples of deploying human-AI collaboration at scale.

Leadership is also evolving and Geoffrey Alphonso, CEO of Alef Education, will explore what it looks like when AI becomes a strategic co-pilot and not just another tool in the workplace.

In addition to academic and enterprise perspectives, AIRF brings together a slate of influential industry voices actively deploying agentic AI in the real world. Speakers include Anirudh Narayan, Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer at Lyzr; Dr. Fatma Tarlaci, Chief AI Officer at SOAR AI; Munjal Shah, Co-founder and CEO of Hippocratic AI; and Jithin George, Chief Technology Officer at Lyzr. 

From early-stage startups to established enterprises, these speakers will share grounded case studies and lessons learned across sectors including healthcare, finance, education, and enterprise operations—highlighting both the transformative potential and the operational realities of deploying agentic AI.