First, there was “auramaxxing,” Gen Z shorthand for cultivating an ineffable cool and optimizing the vibe one projects online. Then came “looksmaxxing,” taking extreme measures to improve one’s appearance. For Gen Z, could “agentmaxxing”—going all-in on agentic AI—be next?
Trendy suffixes aside, leaders who are part of Gen Z believe the shift to agentic AI, the systems capable of pursuing multistep goals with limited human oversight, will be here sooner than we think. That is among the findings in McKinsey’s The State of Organizations 2026 report, by Alexis Krivkovich, Damian Klingler, Dana Maor, Patrick Guggenberger, and Michael Anzenhofer.
In their global survey of more than 10,000 organizational leaders, the authors find that across age groups, most leaders view AI primarily as a support tool in the near term. But younger leaders are more likely to expect the shift from AI assistance to agentic autonomy to happen soon. When asked how AI will reshape their workforce in the next one to two years, 27 percent of survey respondents aged 18 to 24 expect AI to take on agentic roles and function as autonomous teammates (compared with 19 percent of respondents aged 55 and up).
The perception younger leaders have about agentic AI’s transformative potential could be a valuable asset to employers. If Gen Zers already envision AI as a teammate rather than a tool, they may help to normalize the agentic–human hybrid work model faster. In doing so, they could also surface use cases and accelerate organization-wide reskilling, which would shorten the gap between pilot and practice.
While the report also finds that Gen Zers are more likely to believe that AI will augment their human capabilities and complement their skill sets (44 percent of people aged 18 to 24 said so, versus 35 percent of those aged 35 to 54), there are plenty of Gen Zers who worry about AI’s potential impact on entry-level jobs. But their collective mantra seems to be, “If you can’t beat it, use it.”
One October 2025 study acknowledged that skepticism about technology discourages people from trying AI in the first place—and at the same time, it found that individuals who used AI more often tended to be less concerned about its potential impact on motivation and cognitive ability.
For organizational leaders, bringing AI into the workplace in ways that actually move the needle doesn’t mean becoming a complete evangelist (although executive sponsorship is one way organizations can move toward implementation faster than peers). Acknowledging that AI evokes mixed emotions—excitement, fear, curiosity, skepticism—can build trust with employees. To encourage meaningful adoption, leaders can create space for experimentation, including peer-led learning sessions (tap the Zoomers!) and forums where employees can test and question AI tools together.
If Gen Zers already see agentic AI as a collaborator, they may be well positioned to help normalize its use across the organization. For many companies, the hardest shift won’t be technical, it will be cultural. |
