Boomi research reveals growing trust gap as enterprises accelerate AI agent deployment
A new study commissioned by Boomi and conducted by Forrester Consulting found that while enterprise adoption of AI agents is accelerating, many organizations remain unprepared to manage them effectively, creating a significant trust and governance gap.
The global survey of 409 IT and technology decision-makers across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific found that 86% of organizations have moved beyond the AI agent pilot stage, yet only 34% said they trust the actions their AI agents are taking.
The research identified a growing divide between organizations with “agentic control”—those with mature governance, integration, and API management—and those experiencing “agentic chaos.” Companies in the latter group are pushing AI agents into production despite lacking operational readiness, resulting in an average of $2.1 million in additional costs from compliance penalties, customer losses, operational downtime, and rework.
According to the study, organizations with strong AI governance are significantly more confident in their AI deployments. About 55% of companies with agentic control trust their AI agents’ decisions, compared with just 22% among organizations in agentic chaos.
Boomi Chairman and CEO Steve Lucas said the findings highlight that AI trust depends on high-quality, connected, and governed data rather than AI models alone.
The report also found that integration is a key differentiator for successful AI deployments. Nearly 46% of organizations with agentic control use integration platform as a service (iPaaS) to support AI agent workflows, compared with only 25% of organizations in agentic chaos.
Similarly, 86% of mature organizations consider iPaaS and API management critical for building AI agents, versus 58% of organizations with lower operational readiness.
As enterprises deploy larger numbers of AI agents—some operating as many as 200 agents—the study warns that poor integration can lead to what Forrester describes as “POC/pilot purgatory,” where AI initiatives fail to scale because agents cannot effectively connect to enterprise systems and data.
Organizations that established centralized governance and aligned AI and integration teams reported stronger business outcomes. Among enterprises with agentic control, 59% achieved productivity gains, 51% reported increased innovation, 46% developed reusable AI capabilities, and 45% successfully automated repetitive tasks.
The report recommends that enterprises strengthen AI readiness by integrating AI and data strategies, implementing governance frameworks, and adopting orchestration layers that enable AI agents to securely connect with business applications, enterprise data, and one another.
