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Applying the Agentic Mesh for CX to Advertising: Orchestrating Branding and Performance Across the Entire Customer Experience in an AI Age

Roger Beharry Lall — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective explores the transformative role of agentic AI and agentic mesh architectures in customer experience (CX) and advertising. By enabling autonomous, interoperable agents to orchestrate complex workflows across departments, organizations can deliver seamless, personalized, and compliant customer journeys at scale. The document outlines key infrastructure requirements, adoption strategies, and maturity models, emphasizing the need for unified data, robust governance, and cross-functional collaboration to realize the full potential of agentic automation in modern adtech and CX operations.

Agentic AI is transforming customer experience and advertising by enabling interconnected, semiautonomous/autonomous agents to orchestrate complex, cross-functional workflows with minimal human intervention. Unlike traditional AI, agentic systems proactively resolve problems, unify data, and adapt in real time, supporting seamless campaign management, privacy compliance, and personalized engagement. Leading platforms are already embedding agentic mesh principles, driving the need for robust standards, governance, and infrastructure. As agent adoption accelerates, organizations must prepare for rapid proliferation, ensuring interoperability, risk management, and supervisory oversight. The agentic CX maturity model provides a road map from siloed operations to an autonomous, unified CX ecosystem. Success hinges on a strong data foundation, real-time integration, and clear protocols, enabling agents to deliver consistent, brand-aligned experiences across every customer touch point. Investing in agentic infrastructure and upskilling teams will be critical for brands seeking to leverage AI-driven advertising and CX at scale.

"Agentic AI is transforming advertising from siloed automation into a coordinated digital workforce. Competitive advantage will hinge on a brand's ability to unify infrastructure, data, and teams to deliver autonomous customer experiences at scale. In this reality, IDC's agentic mesh for CX framework is foundational for helping advertisers lead in the agentic era." — Roger Beharry Lall, research director, Advertising Technology and Agents, IDC

IDC PlanScape: AI-Powered Digital Operational Resilience and Cybersecurity for the Financial Services Industry

Maria Adele Di Comite — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This report explores how AI-powered solutions are transforming digital operational resilience and cybersecurity in banking in response to the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). It highlights the integration of AI across risk management, third-party oversight, resilience testing, incident reporting, and intelligence sharing, emphasizing AI’s role in proactive risk mitigation, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency. The analysis underscores the strategic importance of AI adoption for banks to move beyond compliance and achieve robust, future-ready resilience frameworks.

Physical AI Infiltrates the Shop Floor: The Rise of Intelligent Manufacturing

Sarah Lee — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective explores how Physical AI is revolutionizing manufacturing by embedding intelligence directly into machines, robotics, and production processes. Drawing on insights from CES 2026 and IDC research, it highlights the shift toward edge-based, autonomous operations, emphasizing intelligent robotics, data infrastructure, and closed-loop optimization. The analysis offers strategic guidance for manufacturers to achieve measurable productivity, resilience, and efficiency gains through Physical AI on the shop floor.

"When intelligence moves from dashboards to machines, factories become self-correcting, adaptive, and autonomous. Is your shop floor ready for the era of Physical AI?" — Sarah Lee, research director, Manufacturing, AI Platforms and Technology, IDC.

To Be or Not to Be … Controlled: Architecture Design for Enterprises of the Agentic Era

Heather Hershey, Mickey North Rizza — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective explores why alignment, governance design, and architectural openness determine whether agentic AI becomes a durable enterprise capability or a constrained feature inside existing platforms. It invites leaders to step back from the surface-level discussion about tools and instead examine the design commitments that will shape long-term control, cost discipline, and market adaptability.

At its core, deployment of agentic AI is a structural choice about how your entire enterprise is designed (systems, process flows, people, etc.) and ultimate control over decision logic. Early data shows that many initiatives stall because organizations focus on model capability or cloud spend while overlooking the deeper architectural question. When intelligence is layered onto tightly coupled systems that were not built for coordinated orchestration, expectations outrun outcomes. The real debate is less about which model to deploy and more about how enterprise applications are structured to support portable authority, measurable value, and accountable execution.

"Agentic AI is an architectural commitment before it is a technology upgrade," says Heather Hershey, research director, AI-Enabled Digital Commerce at IDC. "When leaders treat agentic AI as a structural choice about the level of control orchestration required across the enterprise relative to the costs, they unlock the true transformational potential of the current zeitgeist. When the C-suite treats this as just another feature roll out, the ceiling on value is set long before the model is ever deployed."

"Agentic AI brings a new consideration to create and harvest more value for the enterprise, but the architecture is a consideration overall," says Mickey North Rizza, group vice president, Enterprise Software. "Taking the time to set the right strategy, select the technology partners, and committing to a technology-driven road map filled with value achieved throughout the journey will bring more for the enterprise as it walks through an AI digital transformation."

Vendors as AI VCs: Autodesk Invests $200M in World Labs

Jeffrey Hojlo — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

Cybersecurity: Time to Rethink Your Zero Trust Strategy?

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective discusses how zero trust cybersecurity has earned its place as an effective and widespread practice. Rather than allow unfettered access to data and applications once access is granted, zero trust demands that organizations never relax cybersecurity controls placed on persons and entities that access corporate resources.

Instead, identities are to be verified and reverified in real time, resources are only to be accessed on an as-needed basis, and traffic is to be monitored in real time for suspicious behavior patterns. In short, zero trust comprises measures that taken together are highly effective in protecting data and applications.

Cyberinsurance providers look favorably on organizations that have implemented zero trust strategies and tactics. To determine the level of implementation, assessments are required, whether performed by a third party or by the organization itself.

While some zero trust measures can be implemented at little cost, others carry a higher price tag. They must be carried out by skilled cybersecurity staff and might include sophisticated tools for identity and access management (IAM), as well as for AI-enabled microsegmentation. Zero trust should not be implemented with a "set it and forget it" mindset. Rather, many organizations can benefit from reassessing and rethinking their zero trust implementations, weighing their implementation across multiple vectors: digital transformation, cost, agility, compliance, and efficiency.

Doing so ensures that an organization gets the biggest bang for its cybersecurity buck, while maximizing protection within the limits of its business strategy and financial resources.

"Zero trust principles are widely implemented, but levels of implementation vary widely. No cybersecurity strategy can be completely effective while still permitting business operations to function at a cost that is not prohibitive. Savvy cybersecurity leaders will apply knowledge of which zero trust measures are most effective — which can be tightened and which need to be optimized — to improve both cybersecurity and cost-effectiveness," says Stanley B. Gibson, adjunct research advisor for IDC's Executive Programs (IEP).

IDC ProductScape: Worldwide AI-Enabled Field Service Management Applications, 2026

Aly Pinder — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

The IDC ProductScape offers a comprehensive guide on the key functionalities of field service management, featuring products from Atheer, IBM, IFS, KloudGin, Microsoft, Nomadia, Oracle, OverIT, Praxedo, PTC, Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow, ServicePower, Solvares Group, Syncron, Tavant, Zinier, and Zuper. The status of each functionality is categorized as fully supported, partially supported, partner provided, road map, or not supported, aiding technology purchasers in quickly identifying which vendors align with their changing requirements.

New Bank Charters Shift the Payment Processing Market

Aaron Press — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective examines the evolving landscape of merchant acquiring in the United States, highlighting a shift from banks’ direct involvement to payment processors seeking specialized bank licenses such as Industrial Loan Companies (ILCs) and Merchant Acquirer Limited Purpose Banks (MALPBs). This trend enables processors to expand financial service offerings, streamline operations, and access payment networks directly, enhancing value for merchants and ISVs.

“As merchant processors pursue bank licenses, the lines between banking and payments are blurring, giving merchants and ISVs options for financial partnerships.” — Aaron Press, research director, Worldwide Payment Strategies, IDC

The Financial Systems Architect: Engineering Trust in the Autonomous Enterprise

Kevin Permenter — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 04:00:00 GMT

This IDC Perspective discusses the emergence and importance of the financial systems architect (FSA) role to organizations. To mitigate fiduciary risk in an autonomous era, enterprises are formalizing the FSA role. This function bridges the gap between financial logic and agentic orchestration, replacing traditional statistical sampling with 100%-automated validation. The FSA is the essential prerequisite for achieving an auditable, zero-latency finance office.

"As finance transitions from human-led workflows to autonomous agentic ecosystems, the definition of controllership must evolve. The financial systems architect is no longer a luxury; it is the fiduciary fail-safe that ensures AI-driven decisions remain transparent, auditable, and aligned with enterprise integrity in an increasingly volatile market," said Kevin Permenter, senior research director, Financial Applications and Agents.

2026 Enterprise Connectivity Investment Analysis by Region — Fixed Connectivity

Paul Hughes — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 05:00:00 GMT

This IDC Tech Buyer Presentation takes a closer look at enterprises' fixed-line and wired connectivity investment expectations worldwide for 2026. The data in this presentation comes from IDC's 2025 Future Enterprise Connectivity Infrastructure and Services Survey, conducted among 758 respondents in 18 countries worldwide across IT and lines of business, all with connectivity budget and decision-making capabilities.