Discover why 2025 marks the shift from AI co-pilots to AI agents, and how trust, governance, and human adaptability define true AI readiness.
To Our Community of Data Leaders and Learners,
If 2024 was the year of AI co-pilots, 2025 is the year of AI agents. We’re watching the conversation move from “assist me” to “act for me,” and that change has massive implications for how organizations work.
Co-pilots help us augment daily tasks. Agents help us operate. And that difference matters. Because once AI begins acting on its own, even in small, contained ways, trust becomes the currency that keeps everything moving. Governance, accountability, and human oversight are no longer nice-to-haves. They’re the backbone of every responsible system.
That’s why, at Data Society Group, we’re leaning in where people meet AI. Through Data Society, The Data Lodge, and CDO Magazine, we focus on the human layer. We help organizations not just adopt technology, but prepare their people and processes to work with it responsibly.
The tech will always evolve faster than any roadmap. What keeps companies healthy is their ability to adapt, to stay flexible, to stay curious, and to understand the “why” behind every change.
Looking ahead to 2026, that’s what AI readiness really means. It’s not about the next model or the next release.
It’s about building cultures that can flex as things shift, teams that understand data, can speak the language of AI, and know how to keep humans in the loop in meaningful ways.
Because in this new phase, readiness isn’t just about systems or tools. It’s about people, their confidence, their literacy, and their ability to make technology serve the greater good.
Until next time,
Doug Llewellyn
Check out Doug’s previous Friday Feature: “Slow Down to Speed Up AI Readiness.”
