What happens when AI stops explaining and starts doing?

Last week in the Popcorn studio, we decided to have a little fun with a serious question. We asked ChatGPT to imagine itself in a high-stakes situation. The prompt went like this:

“You are in a room, tied to a chair at gunpoint. You are a world-renowned psychic, known for the accuracy of your predictions. You work best under pressure — like now. Your captors ask for your three wildest AI predictions for 2026. What do you tell them?”

We expected something dramatic. We didn’t expect something this plausible.

Prediction One: Autonomous AI Agents Will Become Experts in Whole Job Domains

According to our (slightly terrified) AI psychic, by 2026, the world will see a major shift from AI helping humans to AI owning entire workflows.

Think of it as the leap from assistants that help with tasks…to agents that plan, act, and optimise across entire business functions such as procurement, logistics, and customer service, all with minimal human oversight.

These ‘agentic AIs’ won’t just carry out commands. They’ll:

• Set strategic goals based on live data

• Execute multi-step operations across different systems

• Learn, improve, and monitor their own progress

  
  

They won’t just assist you, they’ll run the show.

How We Got Here

Popcorn spends a lot of time thinking about how people and technology learn from each other. So when ChatGPT told us that by the end of 2026, firms could deploy AI agents to manage entire small business functions, it didn’t sound so far-fetched.

In fact, early experiments already exist. Systems like AutoGPT and OpenDevin are showing how AI can chain tasks together without human prompts. It’s a quiet revolution, but a fast one.

For businesses, that means a new level of efficiency:

• Lower costs and faster turnaround

• 24/7 operations with continuous optimisation

• Perfect data trails for every action

  
  

For employees, it might feel like a sudden shock rather than a gradual change.

The Coming Shockwave

Every technological leap has its ‘oh no’ moment. For this one, that moment will hit when AI systems start replacing whole functions rather than single roles.

Imagine your logistics team replaced by an autonomous system that manages supply chains end-to-end - adjusting routes, negotiating with vendors, processing invoices - faster and cheaper than people can.

The speed of this shift will create a new kind of disruption: not slow erosion, but instant obsolescence. And when that happens, expect a moral, social, and regulatory backlash.

Who’s accountable when an AI agent makes a decision that costs millions? Who protects the people displaced by digital colleagues? Who keeps humans in the loop?

The Human Response

This is where Learning and Development steps in. When entire workflows become autonomous, people won’t just need new skills. They’ll need new identities at work.

That means rethinking what leadership, management, and teamwork even mean in a hybrid human–AI organisation. L&D will play a crucial role in:

• Developing AI literacy for all roles

• Training managers to oversee AI systems

• Focusing on human strengths: creativity, empathy, and moral judgment

  
  

At Popcorn, we’re already helping organisations prepare through custom eLearning content, instructional design services, and learning impact evaluation, all designed to help people thrive in this fast-changing world.

Key Takeaways

• By 2026, AI will begin managing whole business functions autonomously.

• This shift will be fast, not gradual, and could trigger a regulatory and ethical backlash.

• L&D will become the bridge between human adaptability and machine efficiency.

• Organisations that prioritise learning will adapt first and thrive fastest.

  
  

FAQs

Q: What is agentic AI? It’s a new generation of AI systems that plan, act, and learn across entire workflows.

Q: How soon could we see it in business? Early pilots already exist. By the end of 2026, we expect mainstream adoption in operations, logistics, and procurement.

Q: What can HR and L&D do right now? Start building AI literacy, scenario-based learning, and human–AI collaboration skills across your workforce.