The Connectivity Paradox is emerging as the primary constraint on enterprise agentic AI adoption. While organizations are rapidly deploying AI agents, fragmented systems and weak integration strategies are preventing multi-agent orchestration at scale.
According to Salesforce’s 2026 Connectivity Benchmark Report, enterprises now use an average of 12 AI agents, with adoption expected to rise 67% within two years. However, only 27% of applications are connected, even as the average organization manages 957 applications. As a result, many AI agents operate in silos rather than coordinated systems. Below are the key findings from the 2026 Connectivity Benchmark Report:
- 83% of organizations report widespread AI agent adoption across teams
- Over 80% of IT leaders believe integration challenges may create more complexity than value
- 36% of IT team time is spent building custom integrations
- 26% of IT projects were delayed in the past year
- Nearly one-third of APIs remain ungoverned
The report, developed with Vanson Bourne and Deloitte Digital, highlights that deploying more agents does not automatically translate into productivity gains. Instead, success depends on how agents are discovered, governed, and orchestrated across systems.
Salesforce SVP Andrew Comstock emphasizes that multi-agent systems require a unified control plane. APIs are becoming the connective layer, with 94% of leaders expecting IT architectures to become more API-driven. However, API sprawl and shadow AI continue to introduce governance and security risks.
Emerging standards such as Agent-to-Agent (A2A) protocols and Model Context Protocol (MCP) are gaining traction, yet 68% of IT leaders struggle to keep pace with evolving frameworks.
The Connectivity Paradox signals a shift: enterprise value from agentic AI will depend less on agent quantity and more on integration quality.
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