IDC Report Finds Businesses Give AI Agents Decision Roles As Trust Lags

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Nearly 9 in 10 organizations said AI agents play some role in decisions, but only 66% of respondents said they trust agentic AI.

 

Key Takeaways

  • An IDC survey found that 89% of organizations give AI agents some role in decisions, while 66% of respondents trust agentic AI.
  • 79% of respondents said people override AI recommendations in more than 10% of cases, most often because the result lacks an explanation or important context.
  • Only 17.5% said their organizations had fully optimized their data systems.

A new SAS report from IDC found that companies are allowing AI agents to influence or make decisions faster than trust in those systems is developing.

The report is based on an April 2026 IDC survey of 2,699 decision-makers across 28 countries. It focused on banking, insurance, life sciences, and the public sector.

Decision-making authority expands faster than trust

Survey respondents said AI agents play a role in decisions at 89% of their organizations, from recommending actions for people to approve to acting without prior approval.

Only 66% said they trust agentic AI, leaving a 23-percentage-point gap between reported use and reported trust. Agentic AI also trailed generative AI, which 76% said they trust.

Users intervene when AI cannot explain its work

The survey found that 79% of respondents override AI recommendations in more than 10% of cases.

The leading reason was insufficient explanation, cited by 34.5%. Another 25.6% said an AI result failed to account for the full context of the decision. Factual errors ranked lower, at 14.8%.

Data systems remain a governance weakness

Only 17.5% of respondents said their organizations had fully optimized their data systems. The report said mature data systems make it easier to trace information to its source and continually check whether an AI system is producing reliable results.

Stronger governance is associated with higher reported returns

Organizations with the strongest AI governance practices were far more likely to report high returns on their AI spending. The report gave higher scores to organizations with stronger controls over the data AI uses, how it reviews decisions, and who is accountable for its use.

Among the highest-scoring organizations, 62% reported earning at least $2 for every $1 spent on AI, compared with 4% of the lowest-scoring organizations.

The survey does not establish that stronger governance caused the higher returns.

The report said 86% of organizations plan to increase spending on AI oversight, data quality, validation, and accountability during the next year. It did not specify how much each organization plans to spend.