Gartner Points the Direction — Fhinck Is Already Building the Roads: Agentic AI as a Top Strategic Technology Trend
In December 2024, Gartner named Agentic AI a top strategic technology trend for the following year. Fhinck had already been applying it for over a year. Why leading the curve...
Gartner Points the Direction — Fhinck Is Already Building the Roads: Agentic AI as a Top Strategic Technology Trend
In December 2024, at the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, "Agentic AI" was featured among the Top Strategic Technology Trends. For many C-level executives, it was the first time hearing the term formally. For Fhinck, it had been the subject of Coffee & Insights events for more than a year.
"Gartner points the direction; Fhinck is already building the roads."
— Paulo Castello, December 2024
The Difference Between Those Who Anticipate and Those Who Follow
Gartner reports serve an important role in the global market: validating trends to the level of board and CFO decision-making. When something enters the Top Strategic Technology Trends, it becomes an investment committee agenda item. Budgets are allocated. RFPs are issued. Pilots begin.
But there is a subtle problem: by the time Gartner publishes, the curve is already mature for those who anticipated it.
In AI, in 2024–2026, the pace is such that 12–18 months of anticipation is a brutal competitive differentiator. Those who started in 2023 (when Agentic AI was not yet a Gartner report headline) arrive at 2026 with:
- Agents in production
- Processes redesigned
- Culture installed
- Team trained
- Results measured
Those starting now (because "Gartner put it in the top trends") are in the learning phase. An 18-month lag = 2 complete learning cycles lost.
How Fhinck Anticipated in 2023
Fhinck began Coffee & Insights events for clients in 2023. The central theme, from the very first event: practical applications of AI agents in corporate operations.
At that point:
- "Agentic AI" was not a consolidated term in the Brazilian market
- Most Brazilian C-level executives considered it distant hype
- Large companies were still debating "we are evaluating Generative AI"
Fhinck's bet:
- Combine Task Mining (visibility) + Agents (action) in a single platform
- Implement internally first (eat your own dog food)
- Show clients through Coffee & Insights — not sell slides, show cases
The result: when Gartner finally placed Agentic AI in the top trends in December 2024, Fhinck already had the platform running in production for clients. The early adopters benefited from the anticipation.
The Task Mining + Agentic AI Correlation
Something many C-level executives still do not grasp in 2026:
Task Mining + AI Agents are not two separate technologies. They are complementary.
From the synthesis of Fhinck's Coffee & Insights:
"While agentic AI executes and decides, Task Mining guides those decisions, ensuring that automations are implemented with a deep understanding of the human context, the workflow, and the real needs of the business."
Broken down:
Task Mining (Without Agents) = Visibility Only
You see what is happening. But action still depends on a human to interpret and act. Limited gains.
Agents (Without Task Mining) = Blind Action
The agent acts upon a process without knowing the baseline, without understanding variability, without seeing the real bottleneck. Result: it automates the wrong process, optimizes the peripheral instead of the core, and generates marginal gains.
Task Mining + Agents = Complete System
You see everything (Task Mining) and act on it with autonomous intelligence (Agents). The cycle closes. Operational leverage happens.
What This Means for a Company Starting Now
If you are starting your AI First strategy in 2026, three principles for closing the gap:
1. Don't Start with the Tool — Start with Visibility
Implement Task Mining first (or in parallel). Without real process data, any agent is blind.
2. Choose a Vendor That Combines Both Layers
Companies that sell "only agents" or "only Task Mining" create integration debt. A vendor that combines both delivers results faster.
3. Don't Wait for the Next Gartner Report to Make Your Move
If you waited for Agentic AI to become a Top Strategic Technology Trend in 2024 before getting started, you are still implementing in 2026. For the next wave (likely: AI Twins, Agent Marketplaces, Synthetic Workforces), anticipate.
How? Follow primary sources (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google DeepMind, NVIDIA), global events (SXSW, GTC), conversations with practitioners. It must be hands-on, not analyst reports.
The Final Word on Analyst Reports
Gartner reports are useful — for validating decisions with the board, for securing budget, for preventing a conservative CEO from looking like an isolated radical. Use them without hesitation.
But do not build strategy waiting for a report. If your company's strategy depends on Gartner reports to get started, you are a follower — not a leader.
Leaders anticipate, test, fail fast, correct, and scale. When Gartner validates 18 months later, the leader has already captured the ROI.
Conclusion
Gartner points the direction. But roads are not built by those who point — they are built by those who walk.
Fhinck chose, from 2023 onward, to walk before institutional validation arrived. In 2026, that has become a competitive advantage.
If you want to understand how to anticipate the next curve (after Agentic AI, something is coming, and Fhinck is already mapping it), schedule a conversation.