Católica-Lisbon SBE | Executive Education hosted the conference "Agentic AI: From Hype to Reality" on 2 July, dedicated to exploring the impact of generative artificial intelligence and AI Agents on organisations. The event brought together business leaders, AI experts and members of the academic community to discuss the challenges and opportunities that this technology presents for companies.
Representatives from organisations including MEO, Spinnable.ai, Jerónimo Martins SGPS, BPI and SONAE shared practical experiences and use cases of artificial intelligence, addressing topics such as the adoption of AI Agents, business process transformation, AI governance and the challenges of implementation at scale.
In the opening session, Filipe Santos, Dean of Católica-Lisbon SBE, highlighted artificial intelligence as one of the most significant technological transformations of our time, arguing that the real challenge no longer lies in the technology itself, but in organisations' ability to integrate AI Agents into their processes. "What will change the equation is the transformation of organisational processes through the integration of AI Agents that, working together and interacting with humans, will deliver a significant leap in business productivity," he stated.
The opening keynote was delivered by Gonçalo Oliveira, Member of the Executive Board at MEO, who sought to distinguish the excitement surrounding artificial intelligence from the reality of its implementation within organisations. Drawing on MEO's experience, he argued that many companies still struggle to move from proof-of-concept initiatives to applications that generate tangible business impact, stressing that the main challenges lie less in the technology itself than in organisations' ability to make decisions, adapt processes and lead change. Throughout his presentation, he also challenged some of the most common narratives about the future of work, noting that the available evidence points to a more complex reality than the simple replacement of people by technology. In his view, "artificial intelligence is a test of our leadership", underscoring the critical role leaders play in driving this transformation.
The first panel, "AI Agents: Expanding Capability or Automating at Scale?", moderated by Miguel Godinho de Matos, Professor at Católica-Lisbon SBE, featured Pedro Mira Vaz, Global AI Office Director at Jerónimo Martins SGPS, and Fábio Kepler, Co-Founder & CTO of Spinnable.ai. The discussion focused on the evolution of AI Agents and their potential to transform business processes.
Pedro Mira Vaz explained that, despite the rapid pace of experimentation across organisations, large-scale adoption remains constrained by the need for human oversight and trust in AI systems. "We have not yet managed to overcome the trust barrier that comes from having a human making the final decision," he said, arguing that implementation should begin with smaller stages of the value chain, enabling incremental gains before moving towards broader automation. Fábio Kepler, in turn, emphasised the importance of reducing the complexity of adopting these solutions in order to accelerate their uptake by organisations of all sizes.
The second panel, "When Hype Doesn't Become Reality: Lessons from Real-World Cases", moderated by João Virott da Costa, Professor at Católica-Lisbon SBE, brought together Ricardo Posser Chaves, Executive Director at BPI, and Liliana Bernardino, Head of Data &
AI at SONAE. The discussion focused on practical experiences of implementing artificial intelligence in large organisations, identifying critical success factors, limitations and key lessons learned. The panellists argued that the real value of artificial intelligence depends less on the technology itself than on organisations' ability to integrate these solutions into business processes while ensuring effective governance, high-quality data and strong employee engagement.
The conference highlighted that the true potential of artificial intelligence lies not so much in the evolution of the technology itself, but in organisations' ability to embed it strategically into their operations, generating gains in productivity, innovation and competitiveness.