Quick Summary
Eric Schmidt, who led Google as CEO for about 10 years, says the next year or two is the agentic period in AI, and that building a better AI agent than rivals could create an incredible company you own yourself.
Key Points
- Schmidt was Google’s CEO from July 2001 to April 2011, so his comments carry weight in the technology world.
- According to a Forbes video of a Davos panel, Schmidt said: "If you really want to make money, it’s actually easy… Found an agentic AI company." He added that this does not mean one that designs agents, but one that builds an agent to do something specific.
- He also said that if you build a better agent than anyone else, you can probably build one incredible company and own it yourself.
- According to the same panel, Schmidt described this as the agentic period in AI. For the next year or two, everyone will build agents and the agents will compete.
- The remarks were made at the Imagination in Action AI Summit in Davos on 21 January 2026, in a session moderated by David Rubenstein (a well-known investor and interviewer).
Why It Matters
A respected technology leader is signalling a fast-moving race to build AI agents, meaning software that carries out tasks on its own. As many new firms rush in, businesses may start to rely on young suppliers whose controls, security and financial strength are untested. Insurers and risk managers should expect a rise in AI-related exposures, such as errors by autonomous agents, data breaches, contract disputes and professional liability claims. Fast competition can also push firms to launch products before they are properly checked. Because Schmidt said the competitive window is only a year or two, now is the time to review how AI suppliers are vetted, how agent decisions are monitored, and whether current policies clearly cover losses caused by automated systems.
Sources and fact-check
We checked the facts in this article against their original sources:
- Eric Schmidt Says the Next Big AI Opportunity Is Building an Agentic AI Company. Here’s Why He’s Betting on It. | stupidDOPE (stupidDOPE, 2026-11-04)
- Former Google CEO On The Importance Of Human Expertise In An Increasingly Automated World – YouTube (Forbes, 2026-01-28)
Source: X
