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AI Agent Automation Promises Fall Flat as Firms Face Added Management Burden

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AI overview

On 18 October 2026, the South China Morning Post business section reported that after introducing AI agents, companies found the reality was the opposite of automation promises, with work increasing and new friction and management layers emerging. The report cited Xiao Mengjie, an AI product marketing manager at a large technology company in Shanghai, who earlier assigned two AI agents to carry out what she described as simple tasks, expecting efficiency gains. The report said companies across Asia are gradually discovering this gap.

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18 Oct
  1. 南華早報·商業
    AI代理承諾自動化 現實卻要管理「數碼員工」

    企業引入AI代理後發現實際情況與自動化承諾相反,工作反而增加,並出現新的摩擦和管理層級。上海一間大型科技公司的AI產品市場經理Xiao Mengjie早前指派兩個AI代理執行她形容為簡單的任務,原以為可提升效率。亞洲各地企業正陸續發現這種落差。

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Current activity4·Peak across comparable sources9(19 Oct, 00:00)·Change across comparable sources in 24 hours -51%

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