Most agentic AI initiatives are stalling, and the reason has nothing to do with the tech stack

Agentic AI orchestration has become the engine of enterprise AI success, but technology alone won’t get it there. The real differentiator is business-led execution that ties AI workflows directly to outcomes, building on existing systems rather than replacing them.

Agentic AI demands coordination across business departments and units. But many failures come from focusing too much on the technology instead of tying it back to business outcomes, KPIs and the structured path across the organization, according to Randy Mickey (pictured, left), senior vice president of global professional services, Qlik Technologies Inc.

“What feeds what to whom, how, when, where — it’s just as important with agentic AI as when you go back to [enterprise resource planning], right? The whole thing with systems and business and outcomes, it’s a different flavor of that now,” Mickey said. “But when we talk to people that say, ‘Well, geez, I just can’t get this off the ground.’ It’s not the funding, it’s not the technology, it’s that orchestration that’s missing.”

Mickey and Natalie Rhoades (right), global senior director for advisory services at Qlik, spoke with theCUBE’s Rob Strechay and Rebecca Knight at Qlik Connect 2026, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed cross-department agentic AI orchestration and the importance of focusing on business outcomes and KPIs over a tech-first approach. (* Disclosure below.)

Agentic AI orchestration from business goals

Getting the technology right starts long before any tool is selected or any agent is deployed. From an advisory services perspective, the goal is to understand what the customer is trying to achieve, according to Rhoades. That means getting clear on their strategic objectives, pain points and goals.

“Then we can back into the technology and determine what’s going to make the most sense for them,” Rhoades said. “We have an entire platform. It’s modular. We can pick and choose what we need to use from a Qlik perspective to support our customers. But it’s about ensuring that we get the right use case at the right time and we prioritize that.”

The principle extends to scaling, according to Mickey. Organizations don’t need to scrap existing investments to move forward with agentic AI. Instead, the smarter path is to build on what’s already there, modernizing without ripping and replacing.

“You’re not scrapping anything here. We’re building on top, we’re moving this to the next level,” Mickey said. “[Qlik CEO Mike Capone] talked today about all the Qlik customers that have potentially 20, 30 years worth of investment — we showed on stage how you can move that to an agentic experience.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Qlik Connect 2026:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Qlik Connect. Neither Qlik, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE