In 2025, Microsoft's Work Trend Index introduced the "agent boss". It describes a manager whose team includes AI agents as well as people.
A year on, Microsoft reports the number of active agents in Microsoft 365 grew fifteen times. For many managers, delegating to software is now part of the job.
The basics stay the same
Good managers set clear goals, delegate sensibly, check quality and step in when things go wrong. Directing an agent needs exactly these skills.
A vague instruction produces poor work from a person or a model. Delegating without checking is as risky with an agent as with a new starter.
Managers who struggle with agents were often unclear about goals and quality before. AI exposes weak management.
Where agents differ
Agents do not tire. They also do not push back, raise a concern or notice that the goal is wrong. A flawed objective gets pursued with full efficiency.
Agents are poor at working together too. The 2026 CooperBench study found coding agents were 30% less successful when coordinating than alone. Someone still has to join up the work.
The human team still needs leading
The bigger risk is neglecting people. Gallup's 2026 report found manager engagement fell from 31% to 22% in three years. Many managers are stretched before agents arrive.
Gallup also found fewer than a third of US employees say their manager actively supports AI use. Where managers did, frequent use was far higher.
Microsoft found the same. Where managers modelled AI use, employees reported a 30-point lift in trust in AI agents. Your example matters as much as your instructions.
Build this capability in your organisation
Growth Performance designs bespoke programmes that turn insight into measurable behaviour change.
What this means for managers
Leading people and agents draws on all three conditions in The Human Advantage Programme.
Lead the change. Explain why agents matter here, then ask how people really use them and what goes wrong. That is Adoption.
Redesign the work. Decide which steps agents take, who checks them and how long checking takes. That is Adaptation.
Stay ready. When one person finds a good agent workflow, help the team adopt it within weeks, before the next tool arrives. That is Acceleration.
Try this
Pick one task you could hand to an agent. Write down what good looks like and how you would check it.
If that is hard to write, the task is not ready to delegate. Then use the Checking Capacity Calculator to see whether your team can check the extra output.