An AI that writes code is useful. One that answers a funeral home’s overnight calls, negotiates with suppliers or helps businesses handle the grunt work nobody wants to touch is useful to a much larger market.
That’s the shift behind Forbes’ inaugural Agentic 20 list. AI take action on our behalf, not just spit out answers—are moving beyond software triage and calendar management into the messier work of the real economy. The list highlights 20 companies and projects making a dent in the agentic AI world.
Read more: forbes.com/sites/annatong…
Illustration: Hansje van Halem for Forbes
That’s the shift behind Forbes’ inaugural Agentic 20 list. AI take action on our behalf, not just spit out answers—are moving beyond software triage and calendar management into the messier work of the real economy. The list highlights 20 companies and projects making a dent in the agentic AI world.
Read more: forbes.com/sites/annatong…
Illustration: Hansje van Halem for Forbes
Oct 8, 2026 · 1:25 PM UTC
14
11
41
27,055
@Forbes The unglamorous use cases are the real market. Orthogonal gives Muse 80+ tools, pay per result x.com/chrisspickett/…
Use Orthogonal in Muse, Meta's always-on agent.
⚡️To set it up, tell Muse:
set up orthogonal.com/agent-signup
With Orthogonal, Muse can find people, verify emails, pull company data and more, without you signing up for each tool.
Like job search. Muse finds the roles, the ehind them, and their verified work emails, then keeps looking every morning.
0
0
0
81
@Forbes The overnight call nobody is there to answer is where most small businesses will feel AI agents pay off first.
0
0
0
2
@Forbes This lines up with what I keep seeing in ecommerce. The most valuable job for an agent in a small store isn't anything clever, it's answering "where is my order" at 2am, which is boring, high volume and easy to get right.
0
0
0
181
