ComplianceESGCorporateOctober 30, 2025

Crossing the GenAI divide: Karen Abramson on why agentic AI demands a new product mindset

Karen Abramson, CEO of Wolters Kluwer Corporate Performance & ESG
Published in Forbes Technology Council on October 15, 2025

In her latest Forbes Technology Council article, Karen Abramson, CEO of Wolters Kluwer Corporate Performance & ESG, shares her perspective on how agentic AI will transform enterprise technology and what product leaders must do to succeed. 
 
While 78% of organizations already use generative AI, most pilots fail to deliver measurable results. Abramson explains why the next wave of technology, agentic AI, requires a new AI product mindset built on governance, configurability, and transparency. 
 
She outlines a framework for crossing the GenAI divide, including: 
• Building AI systems that learn, adapt, and act autonomously 
• Embedding governance and oversight into every product 
• Designing for ecosystems, not isolated workflows 
• Measuring ROI through explainable and responsible AI outcomes 

Karen Abramson, CEO Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting
You are no longer responsible just for what the product does; you are responsible for how the product learns, acts, and is governed.
Karen Abramson, CEO of Wolters Kluwer Corporate Performance & ESG

Q&A: Understanding Agentic AI and the new product mindset

  • What is “agentic AI”?
    Agentic AI refers to systems that can learn, remember, and act autonomously within defined boundaries. Unlike traditional generative AI, agentic systems can make decisions, trigger actions, and adapt to new contexts without continuous human input.
  • Why do most AI pilots fail?
    Research from MIT shows that 95% of generative AI pilots fail to deliver measurable business results. The problem isn’t the technology, it’s the product mindset. AI solutions often lack adaptability, governance, and continuous learning.
  • What must change in product development for the agentic AI era?
    Product leaders need to move from designing features to designing behaviors. That means embedding governance from the start, building for configurability, and ensuring systems learn and improve over time.
  • What does product management success look like in the agentic AI era?
    The most successful AI products will be configurable, built for ecosystems rather than isolated workflows, implemented through decentralized models with centralized accountability, and transparent about ROI and outcomes.

Read the full article on Forbes.

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