From AI Hype to Agentic Reality: A Readiness Lens for Sustainable Enterprise Adoption

Abstract

This  conceptual article examines organizational readiness as a critical but under-theorized condition for sustainable enterprise adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) agents. While AI agents are increasingly touted as the next stage of enterprise AI, many organizations are pursuing deployment without adequately preparing the governance, accountability, and organizational conditions that are required for responsible scale. This conceptual paper investigates the above by relying upon socio-technical systems theory, dynamic capabilities, and accountability theories needed to explore the organizational preparedness as a critical, but also as an under-theorized state of enterprise adoption of AI agents. As such, this paper introduces a new term: organizational readiness debt and defines it as an accrual of hidden governance, accountability, and legitimacy risks incurred due to the  hasty implementation of agentic systems. To address this gap, the paper also includes the introduction of the Agentic Organizational Readiness Framework (AORF). AORF is a multi-dimensional diagnostic framework, which consists of strategic, governance, risk, workforce, architectural, and ethical-legitimacy dimensions. Using an integrative conceptual review and illustrative case-based analytic examples, the paper argues that organizational readiness, rather than technical capability alone, is a key determinant of agentic outcomes. As such, the paper contributes to the emerging literature on AI agents and offers practical guidance for senior leaders responsible for enterprise AI transformation.