August 13, 2025
5 min read
孙迟
Baidu Bets Big on AI Agents to Revolutionize Enterprise Efficiency
Chinese technology heavyweight Baidu Inc is investing heavily in digital employees powered by artificial intelligence (AI) agents, driven by rapid advancements in AI technology and the emergence of new algorithms, models, and applications. Industry experts note that AI is increasingly used to identify people's needs and solve problems, leading to the rise of digital workforces. These digital employees are becoming central to reshaping organizational structures and boosting operational efficiency. Ruan Yu, vice-president of Baidu, highlighted that the capabilities of large language models are evolving at an unprecedented speed. This accelerated evolution is shifting AI from a human-machine collaboration model to an AI agent form. AI agents, acting as "digital employees," are expected to participate in all aspects of enterprise operations, driving revolutionary changes in productivity. AI agents have gained global attention with explosive growth since early 2025. Unlike chatbots, AI agents autonomously perform complex tasks across industries by designing workflows and utilizing available tools, delivering tangible results rather than just suggestions or answers. According to a report by Beijing-based EO Intelligence, the market for AI agent marketing and sales in China reached 44.2 billion yuan ($6.2 billion) in 2024 and is projected to exceed 1 trillion yuan within five years. Baidu AI Cloud, Baidu's cloud computing division, recently launched the first batch of AI-powered digital employees covering core business functions such as marketing managers, car salespersons, promotion specialists, product managers, course advisers, and recruitment specialists. These digital employees integrate large language models, digital human technology, and industry expertise to understand and execute complex tasks. They can be embedded directly into business processes and held accountable for results. The company plans to develop more digital employees for various roles and expand their applications across sectors including education, automobiles, finance, and fast-moving consumer goods. Collaborations with leading clients aim to build specialized digital employees like bank marketing specialists and university admission consultants to enhance productivity, reduce repetitive work, and accelerate digital transformation. Global consultancy Gartner predicts that by 2027, AI agents will augment or automate 50% of business decisions, improving decision-making by handling complex analysis and data retrieval. AI agents can plan, automate tasks, make informed decisions, and interact with their environments. Agentic AI is also set to revolutionize service interactions. Customers and organizations will increasingly use AI agents to automate service requests, fundamentally reshaping relationships between service teams and customers. Daniel O'Sullivan, senior director analyst at Gartner Customer Service & Support Practice, said, "As customers increasingly leverage agentic AI-powered agents to initiate, manage, and negotiate service requests on their behalf, service teams must adapt by embracing new roles and skills to collaborate effectively with these intelligent systems." He added, "Agentic AI is a game-changer for customer service, enabling autonomous, low-effort customer experiences. Unlike traditional generative AI tools that assist with information, agentic AI proactively resolves service requests, ushering in a new era of customer engagement." Zhu Min, former deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, emphasized that employment structures will transform fundamentally. Simple and repetitive jobs will be replaced, leading to a structural change in the employment system rather than a reduction in total jobs.Source attribution: Originally published at China Daily on Wed, 13 Aug 2025.