The enterprise world stands at a critical inflection point as we witness the shift from traditional generative AI (GenAI) to Agentic AI systems. While GenAI has achieved broad adoption, with nearly 80% of organizations now deploying it, the real transformation lies ahead in Agentic AI, which promises to move enterprises from reactive AI tools to proactive, autonomous digital collaborators that can reason, plan and execute complex business processes independently.
The process transformation imperative
Unlike traditional AI that simply responds to queries, Agentic AI fundamentally reimagines how work gets done. These intelligent systems can set goals, create execution plans and coordinate across multiple enterprise systems without human intervention. However, the transition presents significant process-related challenges that enterprises must address to unlock the projected $1 trillion global market opportunity for Agentic AI services.
Breaking down enterprise data silos
One of the most significant process challenges organizations face is the historical fragmentation of enterprise data across siloed systems. Google Cloud recognizes that traditional data architectures, built as collections of disconnected tools, cannot support the unified intelligence that Agentic AI requires. The solution lies in creating AI-native data foundations that merge operational and analytical engines, providing agents with real-time, comprehensive business understanding.
Google’s Data Cloud architecture brings together all of a company’s important data, both recent transactions and older records, into one unified platform. This allows AI agents to quickly analyze and act on information from across the business in real time, making decision-making faster and smarter than ever before. This eliminates the traditional divide between business transaction data and strategic analysis that has historically limited AI effectiveness.
Cybersecurity and compliance: The foundation for trusted Agentic AI
Adopting Agentic AI at enterprise scale amplifies the need for robust cybersecurity and compliance controls. The HCLTech and Google Security alliance, through joint solutions such as the Google Cloud Platform Security blueprint and HCLTech UMDR powered by Google Chronicle, ensures that the evolution to Agentic AI is secure, scalable and compliant across identity management, network security, data protection and continuous monitoring.
- Integrated security blueprint: By embedding security best practices at every layer, enterprises can drive Agentic AI innovation while protecting assets and meeting regulatory demands. The combination of proactive threat detection, vulnerability management and incident response are key for process transformation
- Secure multicloud workflows: Joint solutions leverage the Google Security Command Center Enterprise for multicloud threat detection and governance, ensuring process workflows remain resilient against emerging cyber threats
- Compliance at scale: Integrated compliance helps organizations maintain trust when deploying Agentic AI in regulated environments, an essential requirement for sectors like finance, healthcare and government
Orchestrating multi-agent ecosystems
As enterprises deploy multiple specialized agents across different departments and functions, orchestration becomes critical. Google Agentspace serves as the central command center for this multi-agent orchestration, providing governance, security and coordination capabilities needed for enterprise-scale deployment.
The platform enables organizations to manage agent lifecycles, implement behavior rules and coordinate thousands of agents across the enterprise. Through its three-tier architecture, NotebookLM Enterprise for information synthesis, Agentspace Enterprise for search and discovery and Agentspace Enterprise Plus for custom agent deployment, enterprises can progressively scale their Agentic AI adoption.
The power and promise of agent interoperability
Agent interoperability is critical to realizing the full potential of Agentic AI. Google’s Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol, developed with service partners like us, sets a global standard for secure, seamless agent collaboration across frameworks and platforms.
- Universal connectivity: The A2A protocol enables agents to securely exchange tasks, context and updates, regardless of vendor, fostering flexible and scalable multi-agent ecosystems
- Secure by default: With enterprise-grade authentication and authorization built in, A2A upholds compliance and risk management in dynamic Agentic AI environments
- Industry commitment: HCLTech’s leadership in advancing agentic interoperability through A2A highlights the unique strength of our partnership in building the future of enterprise AI
Ensuring seamless inter-agent communication
A fundamental process challenge is enabling agents built by different vendors or on different frameworks to communicate effectively. Google’s Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol, supported by over 50 technology partners including Atlassian, Salesforce, SAP and ServiceNow, provides the standardized communication framework that enterprises need.
The A2A protocol operates like “HTTP for AI agents,” enabling secure communication, task delegation and context sharing across different agent systems. This interoperability is crucial because enterprises typically operate with multi-vendor software stacks and agents must work cohesively across these diverse environments to deliver end-to-end automation.
Addressing security and governance challenges
Enterprise adoption of Agentic AI introduces new security paradigms that traditional cybersecurity approaches cannot adequately address. Google Cloud’s approach combines deterministic security measures with reasoning-based dynamic security to create layered defenses against potential agent misuse.
The security framework includes identity and access management integration, role-based access controls, VPC Service Controls and Customer-Managed Encryption Keys (CMEK). Most importantly, Google Agentspace honors source application access control lists, ensuring agents only access data that users are authorized to see.
Transforming traditional business processes
The most significant process challenge and opportunity lies in reimagining core business workflows to be agent-centric rather than human-centric. HCLTech’s partnership with Google Cloud demonstrates this transformation in action, with 250+ specialized agents deployed across manufacturing, IT operations, HR, finance and customer relationship management.
For example, HCLTech’s manufacturing solutions use Google Cloud’s Cortex Framework and Vertex AI to create agents that can identify product defects in real time, automatically trigger quality control processes and optimize production workflows, reducing infrastructure costs by up to 40% and software license costs by 30%.
Accelerating technical debt reduction
Legacy application modernization represents another critical process challenge. Google Cloud’s Agentic AI solutions help enterprises containerize existing applications at lower cost and higher success rates through specialized assessment, conversion and testing agents that work collaboratively to modernize legacy systems.
Scaling with enterprise-grade infrastructure
Infrastructure scalability presents ongoing process challenges as organizations deploy agents at scale. Google Cloud’s approach provides multiple deployment paths through Agent Engine for managed scaling, Cloud Run for serverless flexibility and Google Kubernetes Engine for maximum control.
The integration of the Agent2Agent protocol with these deployment options means enterprises can start with simple single-agent implementations and progressively scale to complex multi-agent orchestrations without architectural constraints.
The path forward: Strategic implementation
Addressing these process challenges successfully requires a strategic approach that balances immediate ROI with long-term transformation goals. The most successful implementations focus on high-value, customer-specific pain points while building reusable intellectual property for broader deployment.
Organizations should prioritize process redesign over simple technology insertion, using Agentic AI as a catalyst to reimagine workflows from the ground up. This includes identifying quick wins that demonstrate immediate value while establishing the foundation for more sophisticated multi-agent systems that will define competitive advantage in the agentic era.
Agentic AI is fundamentally reshaping the enterprise landscape and organizations that proactively address these process challenges today will emerge as leaders in tomorrow’s AI-native business environment. With Google Cloud’s comprehensive platform and HCLTech’s implementation expertise, enterprises have the tools and partnerships needed to navigate this transformation successfully and unlock the full potential of autonomous AI systems.
