The 80% Rule: Who Captures Value When AI Does the Work
Google Research just showed that centralized orchestration of agentic systems drives 80% higher AI performance. Translated into dollars, we get a first glimpse of Orchestration Economics.
Google Research just demonstrated that centralized orchestration delivers ~80% higher agent performance than single-agent systems in certain configurations. That’s the difference between AI as an assistant and AI as an agentic colleague. That 80% accrues to whoever controls the orchestrator - the “captain” - not to the specialist agents being coordinated - the “crew.” Having great agents does not mean you capture value. Owning the control plane where your agentic colleagues receive intent and direct work does. I call this strategic position Orchestration.