AI agents: a $236 billion fortune forecast by 2034… or an existential threat to humanity

In an era where artificial intelligence is infiltrating every sector of our lives, AI agents now stand out as key players in large-scale digital transformation. At the intersection of technological progress and economic challenges, their rapid growth promises a colossal fortune, estimated at 236 billion dollars by 2034. This phenomenal growth demonstrates the revolutionary potential of AI agents, capable of automating tasks ranging from simple booking to high-frequency commercial negotiation. Yet, this bright future comes with an existential threat that questions humanity’s place in relation to these autonomous intelligences. As these agents become both intermediaries and decision-makers in the digital economy, their economic, social, and ethical impact sparks passionate debates around trust, responsibility, and security in a world where the boundaries between humans and machines are blurring.

The scope of this phenomenon is not limited to mere financial growth. Behind the numbers, technology unfolds at the heart of commercial flows, reinventing the modes of exchange and interaction. In 2024, AI agents have already generated over 22 billion dollars in online sales, with a rapid increase in their usage announced for the coming years. Forecasts indicate that the majority of transactions will no longer be directly carried out by people but by these software agents acting on behalf of individuals, companies, or multiple logistic partners. In this context, the economy driven by these agents raises fundamental questions about identity, trust, and regulation.

Between unprecedented economic opportunities and systemic risks, AI agents outline a future where mastery of this new technology is a strategic necessity. If a clear framework for AI ethics and responsibility management is quickly deployed, it could promote a smooth and inclusive global trade previously unimaginable. Conversely, without appropriate safeguards for software autonomy, this same future could be marked by the rise of automated fraud and a major crisis of trust deeply impacting humanity and its social structures.

An unprecedented economic explosion: why the AI agents market will be worth 236 billion dollars by 2034

The accelerated development of AI agents radically changes economic dynamics. According to a Precedence Research study, the global market for artificial intelligence agents is expected to leap from a value of 5.4 billion dollars in 2024 to 236 billion dollars by 2034. This spectacular explosion is explained by several converging factors that redefine how commercial exchanges and automated systems operate.

Firstly, the growing range of applications for these agents. Once limited to simple tasks such as booking or information search, they are now capable of managing complex transactions, orchestrating supply chains, and even automatically negotiating contracts. This evolution is made possible by advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing, endowing these agents with unprecedented autonomy and versatility.

Secondly, the widespread adoption of these agents across all economic sectors. The online commerce sphere is no longer the sole beneficiary; financial industries, healthcare, industrial production, and services all benefit from these agents to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and open new markets. Pioneering companies innovate by integrating these AI agents capable of finalizing purchases, managing inventories, or coordinating partners without human intervention.

A strong anchor point for growth is also the very favorable reaction from consumers and decision-makers. Adobe data, for example, shows that between 2023 and 2024, traffic generated by AI agents to commercial platforms increased by +805%, notably during major events like Black Friday. This trend illustrates growing user trust in these digital intermediaries, even if regulatory frameworks are still slow to follow.

This expansion is accompanied by a sophistication of technical capabilities: agents adapt in real time, communicate with each other, multiply their interventions in business processes. The market thus becomes not only larger but also more complex and rich in opportunities. The table below summarizes this growth dynamic over the next decade.

Year	Global market value (in billion $)	Average annual growth rate (CAGR%)	Main impacted sectors
2024	5.4	–	E-commerce, financial services
2026	15.2	40.5%	Logistics, healthcare, industrial production
2030	78.9	40.5%	Automotive, energy, public administration
2034	236.0	40.5%	All global industries

Ultimately, the AI agents market is no longer limited to a simple technology sector but becomes a transversal engine of industry, productivity, and new economic models. Companies that anticipate this change and invest in these technologies will be the leaders of tomorrow.

How AI agents transform human and digital interactions

The advent of AI agents introduces a profound disruption in how individuals and companies interact. These software agents now become active intermediaries, capable of managing, negotiating, and concluding transactions in place of humans.

Unlike basic virtual assistants, AI agents are characterized by their ability to chain complex actions, often interacting with multiple stakeholders and with a high degree of autonomy. They operate in digital or physical environments, mobilizing various tools and technologies to achieve their objectives, continuously learning through sophisticated algorithmic processes.

For example, in the travel and hospitality sector, AI agents already automatically book flights, compare offers, and finalize purchases taking into account user preferences and constraints. This extends to more complex areas like international logistics, where agents optimize routes, anticipate hazards, and efficiently coordinate supply chains including hundreds of partners.

Automation of complex tasks and digital negotiation

Another key aspect lies in the ability of agents to conduct high-speed commercial negotiations. These agents negotiate in real time, test offers, adapt their strategies, and conclude agreements without human intervention at every step. This gradual automation redefines the very notion of intermediation, freeing humans from repetitive or tedious tasks but also profoundly modifying traditional business relationships.

In finance, for example, some AI agents now manage investment portfolios by continuously adjusting positions based on market data. This speed and precision are inaccessible to humans alone but raise questions about decision transparency and systemic risks linked to advanced automation.

AI agents and coordination between entities

The interaction between AI agents themselves opens the way to a new economy of exchanges. These agents dialog, negotiate, share information, and trigger transactions at a frequency and scale impossible to imitate by humans. This allows, for example, accelerating the supply chain or adjusting commercial offers in real time according to market fluctuations.

This capacity creates a network of interconnected agents that modify the very structure of industrial and commercial ecosystems. Yet, this change requires rethinking the rules of the game regarding AI ethics, supervision, and control to ensure smooth and secure operation.

The transformation operated by AI agents extends widely to society, notably facilitating access to personalized services, increasing process efficiency, and opening new economic opportunities for small businesses beyond traditional borders.

The emergence of a new economy: the central role of AI agents in commercial flows

The gradual integration of AI agents in digital transactions generates a true revolution in how value circulates between consumers, companies, and partners. This phenomenon is all the more striking as these agents become the main interlocutors of commercial systems, playing the role of multifunctional automatic intermediaries.

It must be understood that in this new economy, AI agents act on behalf of their owners, whether individuals, organizations, or platforms. This delegation of power radically modifies decision chains and the way of envisaging the client-supplier relationship.

A concrete case illustrates this mutation: imagine a consumer with a personal agent capable of managing all purchases and contracts according to specific preferences (budget, quality, sustainability). This agent selects the best suppliers, negotiates prices, tracks deliveries, and optimizes the energy consumption attached to the ordered products. This role, delegated to an autonomous agent, frees the consumer from complexity but raises questions of AI ethics and supervision.

For companies, this evolution amounts to considering that their clients are no longer only individuals but also digital entities capable of negotiating and acting on their behalf. This dual interaction influences the design of commercial policies, marketing strategies, and customer satisfaction management.

An economy driven by automatic coordination and interoperability

The rise of these agents fosters unprecedented coordination between the different stakeholders in commerce, regardless of their location. AI agents allow automating order management, stock tracking, invoicing, or even return management while instantly adapting to the evolution of the overall context.

This large-scale automation supports the expansion of cross-border trade, facilitates access to emerging markets, and reduces frictions linked to the diversity of regulations and currencies. The real-time tracking provided by these agents also optimizes transparency and traceability, essential for building trust.

Here are the main effects on commerce:

• Considerable time savings thanks to automated processes without human interventions.
• Cost optimization related to the reduction of errors and administrative redundancies.
• Improved responsiveness through instant adjustment of offers according to demand and market conditions.
• Market expansion made possible by better adaptation to local specificities and global coordination.
• Increased transparency with integrated transaction tracking and the possibility of automated audits.

Ethical challenges and systemic risks posed by autonomous AI agents

Despite their immense potential, AI agents raise major ethical challenges, whose scope goes far beyond the technical framework. The first issue concerns trust. How to guarantee that autonomous agents act in line with their users’ interests without compromising system security?

The operation of agents that can engage in complex actions without human supervision continues to pose a fundamental problem: identity and responsibility. Traditional trust infrastructures were designed for human actors who can be held responsible. With software agents, a new layer of trust must be put in place for the agent economy to function safely and ethically.

The emerging concept of KYA: Know Your Agent

Inspired by the KYC (Know Your Customer) system already in use in finance, KYA proposes a robust framework to control and identify AI agents. This mechanism aims to:

• Clearly identify the agent and its precise functions.
• Strictly define the rights of action and limits of each agent.
• Ensure traceability and clear responsibility for each transaction or interaction.
• Implement continuous monitoring to verify compliance and detect anomalies.

KYA must rely on enhanced KYC for the related human or organizational entities, otherwise this system remains ineffective. Indeed, without a reliable identity base upstream, it is impossible to limit fraudulent behaviors or impersonations.

Risks linked to the absence of appropriate governance

AI agents can also become vectors of digital attacks or large-scale fraud. Currently, nearly half of global internet traffic is generated by bots, about one-third of which are identified as malicious. The massive presence of these automated agents significantly expands the exposure surface to cyber threats.

Studies also anticipate that by 2028, a quarter of data breaches in companies could be attributed to malicious exploitation of AI agents. This reality raises questions about the fragility of digital systems in the face of increasing agent autonomy.

Towards global governance: the essential role of regulations and standards to control the impact of AI agents

The complexity and magnitude of AI agents’ impact call for appropriate regulation. It is not simply about slowing down innovation, but about establishing a framework guaranteeing security, transparency, and fairness in the economy driven by these technologies.

Governments and international organizations have a central role to play by coordinating their efforts to modernize identity infrastructures, lift legal barriers to information sharing, and harmonize rules around KYA and KYC. This framework should notably:

• Promote real identity verification rather than simple documentary validation.
• Develop globally interoperable protocols for recognition and control of AI agents.
• Implement effective mechanisms for detecting and removing malicious agents.

Technical standardization bodies have already started defining standards for secure management of autonomous agents, in collaboration with regulatory authorities. The goal is to create a universal trust layer, analogous in importance and function to SSL certificates that secure today’s web.

This approach is also embodied in public programs promoting better awareness and democratic control of AI agents, to prevent their instrumentalization against the general interest.

Deep economic impacts: which sectors benefit most from the rise of AI agents?

AI agents not only alter commercial processes; they also have structural effects on several key economic sectors. Some particularly benefit from this transformation, as illustrated in the table below, highlighting the sectors leading investments and adoption returns in 2026.

Sector	Main applications of AI agents	Key impact	Concrete example in 2026
E-commerce	Recommendation agent, automated transactions	Increase in sales and personalization	Amazon deploys agents to manage inventory and negotiate supplier contracts
Logistics and Transport	Route optimization, delivery coordination	Cost and time reduction	DHL uses AI agents to adjust transport networks in real time
Finance	Automated portfolio management, fraud detection	Improved security and returns	JPMorgan experiments with AI agents in high-frequency trading
Healthcare	Patient monitoring, assisted diagnosis	Optimization of care and resource management	Hospices Civils de Lyon deploy agents for remote monitoring
Manufacturing industry	Predictive maintenance, automated quality control	Reduced breakdowns and improved production	Siemens employs agents to anticipate breakdowns on assembly lines

This table highlights concrete avenues where AI agents are already tangible levers for optimization. Their continued development will reshape internal processes and generate productivity gains which, overall, could reach an estimated total of 3 trillion dollars globally over the next decade.

Existential threats to humanity: vigilance in the face of opaque automation

Although AI agents offer promising prospects, it is imperative not to underestimate the major risks they represent for society and humanity as a whole. Ever-increasing automation can threaten individual sovereignty and democratic control of critical systems.

One of the main dangers is the massive emergence of fraudulent agents capable of impersonating identities autonomously. Without strict control, these agents can commit large-scale fraud, manipulate markets, or disrupt vital infrastructures. Trust, the cornerstone of exchanges, would then be seriously compromised.

Over time, uncontrolled proliferation could lead to internet fragmentation into closed ecosystems where surveillance is omnipresent and free flow of information is hindered. This pessimistic perspective underlines the strategic issue of establishing solid AI ethics and a global regulatory framework.

In this context, the issue of the existential threat to humanity is no longer only science fiction but is now part of current scientific and political debates. The aim is to define control and intervention thresholds to avoid a scenario where technology escapes all regulation, to the detriment of collective security.

Large companies and their strategy facing AI agents: towards controlled integration

In this pivotal period, market-leading companies are adopting balanced strategies aimed at leveraging AI agents while managing their risks. This dual approach relies on progressive integration combined with the implementation of strict internal policies of control and audit.

For example, some international firms develop proprietary platforms to manage interactions between AI agents, thus ensuring better transparency and clear allocation of responsibilities in case of malfunctions. This targeting also allows adapting agent capabilities to the specific uses of the company, notably regarding regulatory compliance and personal data protection.

The experimental deployment of these agents often includes real-time monitoring of performance and compliance with established rules, as well as automatic alert mechanisms in case of deviant behaviors.

The role of human teams in the AI agent ecosystem

Despite the level of agent autonomy, human teams remain essential for supervision, parameter tuning, and analysis of complex scenarios where the agent may struggle. These professionals embody the ultimate responsibility, guarantees of operational continuity and AI ethics.

This human-agent cohabitation opens the way to new skills focused on mastering artificial intelligence technologies, hybrid project management, and predictive analytics. It also offers unprecedented employment opportunities, notably in the development of internal KYA and KYC frameworks.

Economic success will largely depend on companies’ ability to train and mobilize these experts capable of orchestrating this intelligent machinery that is both innovative and secure.

What future for humanity facing AI agents: between promises and necessary precautions

The future sketched by AI agents presents a dual face: that of a colossal economic opportunity and an existential threat to society. This ambivalence requires constant vigilance and shared engagement among researchers, decision-makers, companies, and citizens.

The rapid evolution of software autonomy technologies forces a rethink of traditional notions of identity, responsibility, and trust. If this transformation is to occur at high speed, it is crucial that innovations be accompanied by robust security mechanisms and clear AI ethics.

The expected benefits are immense: billions of dollars in gains that could accelerate progress, increased market accessibility, improved services, economic renewal. But the challenges are also great: risk of abuse, loss of control, violation of human sovereignty, digital fragmentation.

The response to these challenges will largely depend on the collective capacity to build and comply with sophisticated and resilient frameworks, invest in advanced identification systems, and promote a culture of digital responsibility. The choices made today will durably influence humanity’s history in a world where artificial intelligence and autonomous agents are major players.

What are AI agents and how do they work?

AI agents are autonomous software systems capable of executing complex tasks, making decisions, and interacting with other agents or environments, often with a predefined objective. They use artificial intelligence techniques, notably machine learning and natural language processing.

Why is the AI agents market growing so rapidly?

This growth is driven by the multiplication of possible uses, constant technological improvement, as well as massive adoption by businesses and consumers seeking to automate repetitive and complex processes to gain efficiency.

What are the main risks associated with autonomous AI agents?

The main risks concern security, fraud, identity theft, and loss of control. Without strict frameworks like KYA and a reliable identification system, these agents can be hijacked for malicious purposes, jeopardizing trust in the digital ecosystem.

How can AI agents be effectively regulated?

Regulation involves establishing international standards, reinforced identification systems, developing interoperable protocols for agent control, and close cooperation between authorities, companies, and standardization bodies.

What impact will AI agents have on human employment?

While some jobs linked to repetitive tasks may disappear, new professions appear in supervision, management, and development of AI agents. Humans remain essential in ethical control, complex decision-making, and technological integration.