CNBC Television
Box CEO on AI agents: They will change the way we work
11/6/2025, 5:02:48 PM
Economic Summary
- AI agents transform AI from conversational assistants into long-running project executors able to scan large corpora (contracts, financials) and produce finalized reports, enabling tasks previously too costly to do manually.
- Enterprises are adopting AI primarily for new use cases that were previously unaffordable or never addressed, implying productivity gains rather than straightforward headcount replacement.
- Platform players that let models run against in-place enterprise content (e.g., BOX) can reduce data movement, easing governance and creating a competitive advantage when integrated across major AI ecosystems (Google Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, IBM).
- Interoperability with major AI models and enterprise IT stacks (IBM WatsonX, Salesforce Agent Force, Google Agent Space) is a key commercial differentiator, shaping which vendors capture enterprise value.
Bullish
- AI agents enable long-running, previously uneconomical tasks (e.g., automated due diligence), creating new enterprise productivity gains.
- Box's platform advantage (120,000 customers, 64% of Fortune 500) and ability to run AI against in-place content reduces data movement and strengthens its enterprise moat (BOX).
- Deep integrations with major model providers (Google/Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic) and IT stacks (IBM WatsonX, Salesforce) accelerate adoption across enterprises.
- Broad model and tool interoperability increases addressable market for enterprise agent use cases, benefiting platform integrators.
Bearish
- Competition among many AI model vendors and platforms could erode vendor moats.
- Integration complexity and data governance concerns may slow enterprise AI deployments.
- Enterprises may hesitate to centralize sensitive data, reducing platform stickiness.
- Legacy vendors could be slow to innovate compared with cloud-native challengers.
Bullish tickers
BOXIBMGOOGLCRMMETA
Bearish tickers
OPENAIANTHROPICXAIMETA
BOX
Bullish
Enterprise content platform with 120,000 customers and 64% of the Fortune 500; embeds AI agents to keep data in place, creating a strong enterprise moat.
Bearish
Faces competition from cloud vendors and specialist AI platforms; must drive paid adoption and convince customers to use agent features.
IBM
Bullish
Deep enterprise relationships and WatsonX Orchestrate integrations position IBM to supply AI orchestration in the IT stack.
Bearish
Large legacy business may be slower to innovate and face competition from cloud-native players.
GOOGL
Bullish
Developer of Gemini and Agent Space, offering powerful models and infrastructure that support deep-research AI agent use cases.
Bearish
Enterprises may worry about privacy and vendor lock-in despite model strength.
CRM
Bullish
Salesforce Agent Force provides distribution and enterprise integration points for agent-driven workflows.
Bearish
Integration complexity and competitive pressures could limit differentiated value from Agent Force.
META
Bullish
Provides advanced models that can be integrated into enterprise agent stacks, expanding model options.
Bearish
Not primarily enterprise-focused and faces reputational/privacy concerns that could limit corporate adoption.
OPENAI
Bullish
Leading large language model provider with a strong developer ecosystem powering agent capabilities.
Bearish
Enterprise data governance and on-premises needs may limit its direct enterprise adoption without stronger integrations.
ANTHROPIC
Bullish
Claude models emphasize safety and are positioned for enterprise use cases focused on governance.
Bearish
Smaller, private competitor with fewer enterprise integrations compared to incumbents.
XAI
Bullish
Offers Grok models that add diversity to the model ecosystem and potential niche capabilities.
Bearish
Newer player with uncertain enterprise traction and integration depth.
VOX
Bullish
Mentioned as the interviewee's company in transcript; platform positioning unclear.
Bearish
Transcript reference ambiguous; if meant as a media company, not core to enterprise AI stack.
GEMINI
Bullish
Google's Gemini delivers capabilities for deep research agents and is integrated into enterprise workflows.
Bearish
As a product-level offering, enterprises will demand governance and integrations before wide adoption.
CLAUDE
Bullish
Anthropic's Claude is positioned as a safety-focused model for enterprise agent deployments.
Bearish
Adoption depends on partnerships and the breadth of enterprise integrations.
GROK
Bullish
Grok provides additional model choice and can be integrated into agent ecosystems.
Bearish
Uncertain enterprise trust and integration prospects for newer models.
People mentioned
Aaron Levy