I just returned from three transformative days at Pax8 Beyond 2025 in Denver, and I can't shake the feeling that I witnessed the future of business being born before my eyes. See, I've felt the waves building for a long time now. I've personally been an early adopter with AI and it's completely transformed my work as a marketer. (You can read more about that here from where I was at the end of 2024) But what I experienced at Beyond solidified those deep feelings and gave them language. Because the Agentic Era (more on that later) isn't an IT or Techy thing- it's an "every single business in every industry thing". What I learned there isn't just changing how technology companies operate—it's fundamentally reshaping what it means to run any business in 2025 and beyond.
If you're feeling overwhelmed by the pace of technological change, you're not alone. According to new research from Pax8 75% of small and medium businesses are already experimenting with AI¹. But here's what's keeping a lot of business leaders awake at night: they know AI is important, but they don't know how to leverage it strategically without getting lost in the complexity.
We're standing at what Pax8 calls "The Agentic Inflection Point"—a moment when autonomous AI systems will fundamentally transform how businesses operate, scale, and compete.
The progression of AI is happening faster than most people realize and hopefully you can find yourself on this grid:
So where are you? What about your business?
Think of a Digital Workforce as AI agents (digital employees) that never sleep, never take vacation, and can handle complex, multi-step tasks across your entire business. Unlike the chatbots you might be familiar with, these systems can reason, plan, execute, and learn—handling everything from customer service and financial operations to compliance monitoring and strategic analysis.
Here's what this means for your business: A small team can now accomplish what previously required an entire department. Microsoft's 2025 Work Trend Index shows that 82% of business leaders are confident they'll use digital labor to expand their workforce capacity within the next 12-18 months². The question isn't whether this will impact your industry—it's whether you'll lead the change or be left behind by competitors who embrace it first.
One of the most surprising insights from Beyond was that small and medium businesses aren't lagging behind in AI adoption—they're often leading it. AI adoption among small business owners nearly doubled from 26.4% in 2023 to 50.92% by 2024³. Why? Because you have fewer legacy systems to work around and can make decisions faster than large enterprises.
This creates an unprecedented opportunity. When a 10-person company can leverage AI agents to deliver what previously required a 50-person team, the competitive landscape completely changes. Your size becomes an advantage, not a limitation.
Let me share a concrete example that demonstrates the immediate potential. A mid-sized manufacturing company recently deployed AI agents to manage their accounts payable operations. Previously requiring three full-time employees and averaging 15 days to process invoices, their new system:
The implementation required minimal technical expertise and was managed entirely by their technology partner. This isn't science fiction—it's happening today.
Here's the challenge: as AI becomes more powerful, the stakes get higher. Without proper governance, security protocols, and strategic implementation, autonomous systems can become business risks rather than business accelerators. A poorly configured AI agent could expose sensitive data, make incorrect decisions, or damage customer relationships. If your infrastructure isn't properly set, your new AI agent just increases the attack vector of a potential bad actor.
This is where having the right technology partner becomes crucial. You need someone who understands both the transformative potential and the critical safeguards required to deploy AI responsibly.
At Sentry, we're not just watching this transformation happen—we're actively building it for our clients. While other providers are still figuring out basic AI tools, we're already orchestrating intelligent agent ecosystems that deliver measurable business outcomes.
We're your trusted guide because:
Don't spend another week:
At Sentry, we've developed a comprehensive framework to guide businesses through AI transformation:
1. Mindset Transformation: Helping you see AI as an opportunity, not a threat. This isn't about replacing people—it's about amplifying human potential.
2. Process Automation: Starting with simple scripts and workflows, then gradually introducing more sophisticated AI capabilities.
3. Client Transformation: Understanding your specific business workflows and integrating AI agents that connect seamlessly with your existing systems.
4. Strategic Implementation: Building and buying AI solutions tailored to your unique challenges. We'll help you navigate the growing marketplace of AI agents and develop custom solutions when needed.
5. Governance and Management: Ensuring your AI agents are secure, compliant, and delivering measurable value. This includes monitoring, risk management, and continuous optimization.
The future belongs to business leaders who can leverage technology to lower costs, increase productivity, and scale without traditional constraints. The companies that thrive won't necessarily be the largest or the oldest—they'll be the ones that partner with trusted guides who can navigate them through this transformation.
Sentry is ready to be that guide for you. We've spent the last decade building relationships with businesses just like yours, and now we're applying everything we've learned to help you leverage AI and automation for competitive advantage.
The tools for this transformation are on the table. The question is: will you use them to lead your industry, or will you let your competitors get there first?
¹ Forrester Research and Salesforce SMB Trends Report, 2024
² Microsoft Work Trend Index 2025
³ BizBuySell Business Intelligence Report, 2024
⁴ Based on composite analysis of automation ROI studies
⁵ Pax8 Research Report: The Agentic Inflection Point, 2025