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McKinsey 2026: The Agentic Shift Is Exactly What We Built ReplyFabric For

February 23, 2026
Tom
4 min read

McKinsey's State of Organizations 2026 confirms three major technology disruption shifts. ReplyFabric is built precisely for this moment.

McKinsey 2026: The Agentic Shift Is Exactly What We Built ReplyFabric For

On February 19th, McKinsey published its State of Organizations 2026 report.

It is the first time I read a global management report and felt: this is exactly what we are building.

The report describes three technological forces reshaping organizations: AI and automation, digital platforms and connectivity, and advanced analytics and data. But more importantly, it highlights three technology disruption shifts that define the next phase of enterprise AI.

And those shifts are textbook ReplyFabric.

Shift 1: From AI Anxiety to Governed Adoption

The top barriers preventing organizations from adopting AI at scale: regulatory, ethical, and legal concerns; concerns about AI itself such as bias and job replacement; organizational challenges; inadequate legacy infrastructure; and lack of strategy or leadership.

This is not about hype. It is about fear, compliance, and governance.

Top barriers

This is exactly why ReplyFabric was designed the way it is. Human in the loop by default. Draft-first design, not auto-send. A TruCheck verification layer to reduce hallucination risk. GDPR aligned from day one. ISO and SOC readiness embedded in the architecture. Structured onboarding and category governance.

We never believed in "fully autonomous inbox AI." Enterprises do not want that. They want controlled autonomy with traceability.

McKinsey just confirmed it.

Shift 2: AI as a Support Tool, Not a Replacement

Most leaders expect AI to act primarily as a support tool in the next one to two years. The majority expect AI to assist employees in routine tasks, augment human capabilities, and complement existing skill sets. Only a minority expect fully autonomous agentic roles in the short term.

That is precisely our positioning.

Expected workforce change

ReplyFabric assists in routine email processing: drafting replies, summarizing and routing, forwarding with structured context, and escalating when needed. It augments.

But here is the interesting nuance. Younger leaders are more optimistic about agentic roles — and that is the bridge to the future. ReplyFabric already acts as an autonomous teammate within boundaries: it categorizes, drafts, routes, and orchestrates. But humans stay in control.

This hybrid model is not a compromise. It is the enterprise model.

Shift 3: Productivity and Administrative Relief

Organizations expect AI to deliver exponential productivity gains, faster and wider access to information, more effective decision making, reduction of administrative work, and higher employee satisfaction. This is knowledge work transformation.

Email is the backbone of knowledge work. Shared inboxes are where administrative friction accumulates.

ReplyFabric reduces sorting, routing, forwarding, drafting, status tracking, and context searching. When administrative noise drops, decision quality improves. And yes, satisfaction increases.

The data shows 55 percent of respondents expect exponential productivity gains. We see this daily in pilot environments — not by replacing people, but by removing friction.

Desired outcomes 1I savvy workforce

The Real Barrier: Integration

The biggest barriers to scaling AI are integration with existing systems and resistance to change. Notice what is not at the top: not talent shortage, not budget. Integration.

Biggest AI barriers in shared services

That is why we built ReplyFabric as a pure orchestration layer. We do not replace Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or existing shared mailbox structures. We abstract over them.

No migration. No workflow change. No retraining required. Users stay in Outlook or Gmail. ReplyFabric simply works in the background.

That eliminates the biggest barrier before it appears. And because we are layered on top of existing systems, there is no heavy implementation team required.

Everything in One Report

What strikes me most is this: for the first time, everything we are building is described in a global management report. The fears. The productivity expectations. The support-first positioning. The integration barrier. The governance requirement. It is all there.

ReplyFabric was never about chasing hype. It was about building an AI colleague that respects compliance, integrates with legacy systems, keeps humans in control, reduces administrative burden, and scales without organizational disruption.

The McKinsey report does not validate hype. It validates architecture.

And that is a different level of confirmation.

We are not early. We are aligned.


📥 Download the McKinsey report: The state of Organizations in 2026

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Tom Vanderbauwhede - Founder & CEO of ReplyFabric

About the Author

Tom Vanderbauwhede is the founder & CEO of ReplyFabric, lecturer in AI at KdG University, and a seasoned entrepreneur with 25+ years of business experience. He holds master's degrees in Applied Economics, Business Administration (MBA), and Strategic Change Management & Leadership. Tom is passionate about building AI tools that reduce email overload and help teams focus on what matters.

Connect with Tom on LinkedIn and follow his journey as a founder.