Trust Is An Organization’s Greatest Asset In The Agentic Age

InnovationTrust Is An Organization’s Greatest Asset In The Agentic AgeByJerry Haywood,Forbes Councils Member.for Forbes Technology CouncilCOUNCIL POSTExpertise from Forbes Councils members, operated under license. Opinions expressed are those of the author. | Membership (fee-based)Jun 01, 2026, 07:00am EDTJerry Haywood, CEO of boost.ai, is a technology and customer‑engagement executive with decades of leadership across enterprise software. getty​As organizations race to deploy AI agents across customer experiences, a familiar tension is emerging: the push for faster, more autonomous service versus the need to maintain trust. In the agentic age, where AI doesn’t just respond but takes action, trust is no longer a byproduct of good service, but rather the foundation on which everything else depends.Consumers want outcomes they can rely on, delivered conveniently. As more institutions introduce AI agents into high-stakes interactions found in industries like financial services, insurance and telecom, the margin for error narrows dramatically. Companies are no longer questioning whether or not AI can help. They question if it can be trusted when it matters most.The Hidden Risk In Human-Like AILarge language models (LLMs) promise a future of seamless, empathetic and intelligent customer service. But that promise comes with a critical flaw: They can be convincingly wrong. Recent research conducted by SINTEF and boost.ai underscores this risk. Surveying 274 users on their perceptions of AI errors, the study found that not all mistakes are equal. The most damaging by far is factual inconsistency, when an AI hallucinates and provides incorrect information.This type of error creates friction and shatters trust. When a customer asks about a mortgage rate, an insurance policy or billing terms, they are making decisions with real financial and legal implications. A wrong answer is a massive liability, and just like if an actual employee made the mistake, the company is on the ho...