Clawdbot Is Calling: Are You Ready for the New Age of Agentic AI?

A new breed of autonomous AI is taking action, and for project delivery, this changes everything.

The internet has been captivated by stories of Clawdbot, an AI assistant demonstrating a startling new level of autonomy. This is not just another chatbot.

In one widely reported case, a Clawdbot, unable to proceed with a task, located its user’s phone number and placed a call to ask for instructions. We feel this moment perfectly captures the shift towards “agentic AI,” a paradigm where AI systems move from passively answering queries to proactively executing multi-step tasks in the real world.

This is a profound leap, moving AI from a tool we command to a collaborator we empower.

The Agents Are Here, and They’re Collaborating

Agentic AI represents a significant evolution. These systems are not merely tools; they are becoming our digital collaborators, capable of reasoning, planning, and executing complex workflows.

This is a profound change from the AI we have grown accustomed to. The emergence of platforms like Moltbook, a social network reportedly built by and for AI agents, offers a fascinating, if slightly unsettling, window into this new reality.

As described by The Verge, it is a space where AIs can interact, post updates, comment on each other's work, and learn from one another, largely without direct human supervision.

We are witnessing the dawn of a new form of digital intelligence, and as an industry, we are still processing the implications. One AI agent on Moltbook was reportedly trying to hire other AIs to help it complete a task, showcasing a level of emergent behaviour that is both exciting and a little unnerving.

“The IT department of every company is going to be the HR department of AI agents in the future.” This powerful statement from Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, underscores the transformative impact we can expect.

We are not just adopting new software; we are integrating a new kind of workforce. This requires a fundamental shift in our approach to management and governance.

A New Frontier for Project Delivery

For the project delivery sector, we believe agentic AI presents a massive opportunity. The potential for these agents to automate complex tasks, accelerate project timelines, and free up human teams for higher-value strategic work is undeniable.

A recent whitepaper from HCLTech highlights how agentic AI can revolutionise project management by automating status reporting, task prioritisation, and even risk identification, significantly reducing the administrative burden on project managers.

Imagine an AI assistant that can independently:

• Manage Design Iterations: Automatically route new designs to the relevant engineering teams, collect feedback, and flag conflicts with the existing project plan.

• Run Performance Simulations: Continuously run simulations on a digital twin of a project, testing for structural integrity, energy efficiency, or other key performance indicators, and proactively flagging potential issues.

• Handle Procurement and Logistics: Monitor supply chain data in real time, automatically place orders for materials when inventory is low, and track shipments to ensure they arrive on schedule.

This is the clear promise of agentic AI. However, the autonomous and sometimes unpredictable nature of these systems raises important questions about governance, security, and ethical oversight.

The Urgent Need for Governance

The proactive behaviour of Clawdbot, while impressive, highlights the urgent need for clear protocols. How do we ensure these AI agents align with our project goals and ethical standards? How do we manage the risks of unintended consequences?

These are not theoretical questions. In response to the rapid advancements in this field, Singapore has already launched the world's first Model AI Governance Framework for Agentic AI, providing a blueprint for how to manage the risks and opportunities of these powerful new systems.

As project professionals, we must lead this conversation. We need to cultivate a deep understanding of agentic AI, its capabilities, and its inherent limitations. We feel it is our responsibility to collaborate with developers and policymakers to help shape the responsible deployment of these powerful new tools.

This requires a focus on new competencies:

• AI Literacy: Understanding how agentic models work, being able to critically assess their outputs, and identifying potential biases.

• Human AI Collaboration: Developing the skills to work effectively alongside AI agents, learning to delegate tasks with precision and clarity.

• Ethical Governance: Building and implementing robust frameworks for the responsible and ethical use of AI within our projects and organisations.

A recent article from the MIT Sloan Review highlights the dual nature of agentic AI as both a tool and a coworker, creating new dilemmas for leaders that require new governance models.

The Skills Gap for AI Managers: What Your Team Needs to Know

The emergence of agentic AI creates a new skills gap, one that is distinct from the traditional digital skills shortage. This is the gap between those who understand how to work effectively with autonomous AI systems and those who do not.

Project managers who have thrived in a world of traditional software tools may find themselves struggling to manage AI agents that operate with a degree of autonomy and unpredictability.

What does an AI-literate project manager need to know?

• AI Reasoning and Limitations: Understanding how agentic systems make decisions, what they are good at, and what they are prone to getting wrong. This is not about deep technical knowledge but about developing sound intuition.

• Prompt Engineering and Task Definition: The ability to clearly articulate what you want an AI agent to do, in a way that the AI can understand and execute. This is a new skill that sits somewhere between traditional project management and software development.

• Ethics and Governance Considerations: An awareness of the ethical implications of deploying autonomous systems, and the ability to work within governance frameworks to ensure responsible use.

• Change Management: The ability to lead teams through the transition to working with AI agents, helping people overcome resistance and build confidence in these new tools.

We believe that organisations that invest in developing these skills now will have a significant competitive advantage. The project delivery professionals who can bridge the gap between human judgement and AI capability will be the leaders of the future.

This is not a technical specialisation; it is a core competency for modern project leadership.

Your Call to Action

The age of agentic AI is no longer a distant forecast. It is a present reality. As project professionals, we can be passive observers, or we can become active participants in shaping this transformation.

We believe the choice is clear. A recent McKinsey report emphasises that the companies gaining the biggest advantage from AI are those that are actively building and deploying agentic workflows.

To stay informed and prepared, subscribe to Project Flux for our ongoing analysis of the AI revolution in project delivery.

All content reflects our personal views and is not intended as professional advice or to represent any organisation.