Why does it matter?
A billion deployed agents would make autonomous software actors a major layer of the digital economy.
Direct quote
In our first release, IDC projects that the number of actively deployed AI agents will exceed 1 billion worldwide by 2029 which is 40 times more than in 2025. They will include in-application and standalone agents built and operated by cloud, software and services providers, but they will also include a growing number of custom-configured (no code/low code) and bespoke agents optimized to address the unique needs of individual enterprises.
IDC