Enterprise AI: Year-End Review (Jon Reed)

What did Enterprise AI actually deliver this year? In the final episode of “What’s the BUZZ?” in 2025, I sit down with Jon Reed, distinguished analyst and co-founder of diginomica, for a candid year-end review of Enterprise AI that goes far beyond the hype. Catch the BUZZ: • Why vendors are far ahead of customers, and what the “AI adoption gap” really looks like • Where agentic AI is working in practice—and where multi-agent dreams are failing at scale • How “workslop” shows up in leaders’ inboxes and what to do about it • The compound systems that do work: agents + RPA + ML + humans in the loop • AI readiness redefined: real-time data layers, metadata, and context engineering • Document intelligence, autonomous procurement, and other high-impact use cases • The cultural fork in the road: experimentation and trust vs. surveillance and fear Earlier this year, Jon and I recapped key vendor announcements from the spring conference circuit, common myths of AI programs, and what vendors need to focus on in Agentic AI in the months ahead. If you lead AI, data, IT, or business transformation, this conversation will help you separate real progress from temporary noise and sharpen your 2026 roadmap. What was your biggest Enterprise AI surprise this year? Share it in the comments. ⸻ 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳: 𝘝𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴’ 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘥𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 (𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦) 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴.