2025 is the year of AI agents, OpenAI CPO says

DAVOS, Switzerland – We are "just on the verge" of AI agents, OpenAI chief product officer Kevin Weil told Axios' Ina Fried on Jan.21.

Why it matters: AI agents have gained traction in recent months as the next big thing in the workplace.

Axios' Dan Primack and Fried moderated conversations with OpenAI chief product officer Kevin Weil and LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky. The discussions were sponsored by Qualcomm.

What they're saying: "For us, I think 2025 is the year that we go from ChatGPT being this super smart thing that can answer any question you ask, to ChatGPT doing things in the real world for you," Weil said.

• Weil added that AI agents will soon be able to do mundane tasks for humans that they don't want to do, like filling out forms or getting reservations at a restaurant.
• "We're going to be able to do that, no question," Weil said.

AI is also changing the skills needed to excel in today's jobs, Roslansky said.

• "If you break down everyone's job into those skills or tasks, even going back to 2015, on average across all jobs, the skills needed to do the job have changed by 25%, which is just fascinating to see," Roslansky said.
• "I don't think that's going to slow down, it's only going to accelerate into the rest of the 21st century, and AI is a big part of that,:.

Sponsored content:

In a View From the Top sponsored segment, Qualcomm Technologies SVP and CMO Don McGuire spoke about the privacy benefits of on-premise AI where the AI deployment lives on an organization's own servers.

• "There's so many benefits to on-device or on-prem AI. One is privacy and safety. You control your inputs, how things are trained, and as you develop and use the tool … you don't have to worry" if that IP will go somewhere where you don't want it to go, McGuire said.