Agentic AI has moved past the hype: 80% of organizations now report AI agents have already delivered measurable ROI. Learn how to put them to work in yours.
The question for most organizations in 2026 is no longer whether agentic AI works — it's how to move it from pilot to production successfully.
In this free workshop, you’ll get a practical, hands-on look at putting agentic AI to work — LLM-powered systems designed to reason through multi-step objectives, call tools, retrieve information, and execute workflows across modern applications. You’ll learn what separates organizations that get real results from those stuck in pilot mode, and see how agent systems are structured under the hood.
You’ll also get a live demonstration of a simple agent workflow and learn how WatSPEED’s AI Certificate Program can help you build the skills needed to apply agentic AI in modern software development and technical leadership contexts.
Source: Anthropic, The 2026 State of AI Agents Report (survey of 500+ technical leaders, in partnership with Material).
What you will learn
In this session, you’ll learn:
- Why the agentic AI moment is real: The evidence behind the shift from chat → action, and why 80% of organizations already report measurable ROI
- How agentic systems work: Explore the building blocks - models, instructions, tools, memory, planning, and guardrails
- Putting agents to work: real use cases: See examples like summarization and action extraction, reporting, task execution, and decision support
- From pilot to production: The three barriers — integration, data quality, and change management — that most commonly stall agentic AI projects, and how to get past them
- Where agents fit in application development: Learn how agents are becoming embedded in dev tools, business apps, and data workflows
- Risks and guardrails that matter: Privacy, permissions, evaluation, and safe deployment patterns
- Live demo: Watch a simple LLM-powered agent solve a real work task end-to-end
Q&A Session
Bring your questions and explore how to put agentic AI to work in your own projects and workflows.
Meet your workshop host
Larry Simon
AI Certificate Program Lead
Larry Simon is an entrepreneur, management consultant, and angel investor, specializing in IT strategy and data analytics. He is the founder and managing director of Inflection Group and has over 30 years of experience advising startups, global corporations, and government institutions.
Larry was previously a partner with Ernst & Young Consulting, their CTO and national director of their strategy and delivery centres. Larry is the lead for the AI Certificate program as well as the Data Science Certificate program, which is offered in partnership with the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies.
Related programs and courses
Register to attend the workshop!
Secure your spot and join us online for this insightful session on putting agentic AI to work.
Explore all WatSPEED events
Browse WatSPEED's full calendar of upcoming workshops, webinars, and events across AI, data science, python and more.
Learn more about the AI Certificate Program
Build future-ready skills in applied AI through hands-on projects, expert instruction, and real-world applications.
Questions?
Office hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET
Is this webinar free?
Yes. This is a complimentary online workshop offered by WatSPEED at the University
of Waterloo on September 9, 2026.
Who should attend this webinar?
This session is designed for professionals, technical practitioners, managers, and
leaders who already understand the basics of AI agents and want to know how to take
agentic AI from pilot to production and measurable results.
Do I need prior AI or programming experience?
No prior experience with AI agents is required. Familiarity with basic AI or data
concepts is helpful but not mandatory.
Is agentic AI actually delivering results, or is it still mostly hype?
It's delivering results for most organizations that have implemented it. According
to Anthropic's 2026 State of AI Agents Report, a survey of over 500 technical leaders,
80% of organizations report AI agents have already delivered measurable ROI — not
projected value or pilot results.
What is the biggest obstacle to scaling AI agents in production?
According to the same report, the top barriers organizations face when moving agentic
AI from pilot to production are integration with existing systems (46%), data quality
and access (42%), and change management (39%).
What will I learn in this session?
You’ll learn how organizations are moving agentic AI from pilot to production, the
barriers that most commonly stall that transition, how to put agentic AI to work in
real business and development workflows, and see a live demo of an agent completing
a real task end-to-end.
Will this webinar be technical?
The session will balance conceptual understanding with practical examples. It is designed
to be accessible to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Is this webinar recorded?
Yes. A recording will be shared with registered participants after the session.
How do I attend?
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom access link
prior to the event.
Does this webinar relate to a WatSPEED program or course?
Yes. This webinar introduces concepts covered in WatSPEED’s AI Certificate Technical
Track, including the course Agentic AI, for those interested in deeper, applied learning.
Will there be an opportunity to ask questions?
Yes. Time will be reserved at the end of the session for live Q&A with the presenter.
What is an AI agent?
An AI agent is a system powered by large language models (LLMs) that can plan, make
decisions, and take actions across multiple steps by using tools, data, or external
systems to complete a task.
How are AI agents different from chatbots?
Chatbots primarily respond to user questions. AI agents can go further by planning
tasks, calling tools or APIs, interacting with systems, and executing multi-step workflows
with minimal human input.
How are AI agents different from workflow automation?
Traditional automation follows fixed, pre-defined steps. AI agents are more flexible
because they can reason, choose actions dynamically, and adjust their approach based
on context or changing conditions.
How can I start putting AI agents to work in my own role?
Most professionals start by identifying a repetitive, multi-step task — such as research
summarization, reporting, or data lookups — and applying an AI agent as a copilot
for that task before expanding to more complex, autonomous workflows.
Where are AI agents being used today?
AI agents are beginning to be used in software development, data analysis, research
assistance, customer support, operations, and decision support, often as copilots
rather than replacements for humans.