The Agentic AI Divide: 86% of Enterprises Are Running the Wrong Way in the Customer-Centricity Race

New Virtusa research finds only 14% of enterprises use customer data as the strategic engine needed to win the AI era

SOUTHBOROUGH, Mass., May 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Virtusa Corporation, a global leader in product and platform engineering services, today announced the second study in its research series on enterprise data mastery. The new report, "Beyond customer obsession: Where data, AI, and empathy converge," reveals a widening "performance gap" between organizations that treat customer data as an operational byproduct and those that use it as a strategic engine for Agentic AI deployment.

The findings show a stark performance divide: these "Customer-Obsessed" leaders achieve revenue growth of 6% or above, while "Customer-Indifferent" firms—those struggling with data silos and legacy systems—see growth stagnate or decline by 1-2%.

"This division hinges on a crucial difference in mindset. Leaders treat data as oxygen, not exhaust. Data is the strategic asset that fuels every decision, not the byproduct of operations," said Euan Davis, Vice President of Growth Markets at Virtusa. "AI's first era was enablement; the second is about agency. Our research shows that AI spending isn't enough. Winners are redesigning the architecture of work itself, deploying autonomous agents to reimagine value creation. An agentic future requires a data foundation that converts raw signals into scalable human empathy."

Key findings from the Virtusa Research Center:

• The insight conversion problem: The gap stems from execution, not data quantity or access. Most companies believe they need more data, but the research shows they're sitting on plenty of it—they fail to turn it into actionable insights and execute against them. Leaders are effectively using six core customer data types at rates between 83–100%, while laggards are at 0–11%.
• Agentic AI as the forcing function: Agentic AI is more than an emerging trend—it is now a dividing line. The readiness gap—89% of leading firms are strategically ready to deploy Agentic AI vs. 32% of laggards—shows how quickly the window for a "fast follower" approach is narrowing. With agents expected to take on meaningful enterprise work in the next 2–3 years, these agents move from "thinking" to "acting," forcing the reengineering of workflows end-to-end.
• Data as empathy: Leaders are "clairvoyant," using AI to uncover subtle behavioral signals. For example, 82% of obsessed firms use insights to identify product enhancements, compared to just 33% of indifferent firms.
• Hyperscalers as the engine: To handle massive data surges, leaders process over 50% of critical functional tasks—such as identifying sales leads and optimizing product usage—on hyperscaler cloud platforms (AWS, Google, Microsoft). Modern cloud architecture for Agentic AI is a critical necessity.
• Operationalizing trust: Leading companies exemplify this shift, such as banks using cloud-native platforms to process billions of transactions in milliseconds, reducing fraud while using Agentic AI to orchestrate frictionless travel experiences.

AI Value is Real, but Unevenly Distributed

The study highlights that while 90% of obsessed firms use AI to enhance core functions, only 35% of indifferent firms have done the same. This is no longer an "innovation gap"—it is a widening performance chasm. Leaders consistently outperform their peers across every interaction:

• Innovation: 79% of obsessed firms launched entirely new offerings based on data insights, compared to just 27% of laggards.
• Service efficiency: AI-powered agents have reduced underwriting and service cycles from weeks to hours.

Moving from Experimentation to Autonomous Operations

As AI agents move into everyday workflows, they are shifting the leadership focus from optimizing legacy processes to building "autonomous enterprises." The Virtusa Research Center found that the Global Data Office (GDO) is a critical differentiator here. No longer just a governance body, the GDO now acts as a "command center," setting the rhythm for how agents collaborate and partner with people to solve multifaceted problems.

"Agentic AI enables a different metabolic rate for business — not a sprint, but a sustained marathon of transformation," added Sameer Menon, Global Lead, Enterprise Experience Transformation at Virtusa. "It collapses cycle times, sharpens precision, and amplifies people. The question for leaders is how fast they can reimagine organizational processes and roles as agents take on core enterprise work with sustainable oversight"

About the Study: Virtusa's thought leadership institute, the Virtusa Research Center, surveyed 302 U.S. companies (average revenue $33.75 billion) across five key industries (banking, insurance, healthcare, life sciences, and telecommunications) and four core processes (sales, marketing, customer service, and product development). Firms were categorized as Customer-Indifferent, Customer-Responsive, or Customer-Obsessed based on their effectiveness in leaning into data and readying for agentic AI. Based on these findings, additional research is underway on the hyperscaler advantage and its impact on work culture.

To read the full report, "Beyond customer obsession: Where data, AI, and empathy converge," visit Virtusa.com/research.

About Virtusa

Virtusa is a global product and platform engineering services company that makes experiences better with technology. We help organizations grow faster, more profitably, and more sustainably by reimagining enterprises through domain-driven solutions. We combine strategy, design, and engineering, backed by unmatched expertise at the intersection of industry, business, and technology to generate real-world business impact for clients.
Headquartered in Massachusetts with global delivery centers, Virtusa provides a broad range of services, solutions, and assets, including strategy and design, AI advisory and services, digital engineering, data and analytics, digital assurance, cloud and security, and managed services across industries such as financial services, healthcare, communications, media, entertainment, travel, manufacturing, and technology.
Virtusa is a registered trademark of Virtusa Corporation. All other company and brand names may be trademarks or service marks of their respective holders.

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