Is Agentic Process Automation a Lever for Operating Leverage at C3.ai?

C3.ai, Inc. AI introduced Agentic Process Automation during the second quarter of fiscal 2026, highlighting the capability as a meaningful expansion of how customers can deploy and scale enterprise AI applications. Management described the offering as enabling full business and industrial processes to be encapsulated through autonomous AI agents, which can be defined in natural language and deployed rapidly. Management characterized the launch as materially expanding the scope of operational use cases supported by the platform. This aligns with the company’s broader emphasis on advancing enterprise AI from experimentation into production environments.

This expansion reflects the underlying structure of C3.ai’s platform, which is designed to operate across multiple data sources, systems and workflows once deployed. Management contrasted Agentic Process Automation with traditional robotic process automation, noting that legacy RPA relies on rigid, deterministic routines, whereas agentic AI software agents can reason across data and time to manage more complex processes. By enabling automation at the process level rather than the task level, the company stated that the platform can support a broader range of enterprise workflows without fundamentally altering the core architecture.

Management also emphasized that Agentic Process Automation fits within C3.ai’s existing go-to-market and deployment model. Initial production deployments remain the primary entry point for customers, with broader production scale-outs occurring as value is demonstrated. Management did not indicate that agentic automation changes customer conversion timelines or monetization mechanics, instead positioning it as an incremental capability that can be layered onto existing deployments as customers expand usage across functions and processes.

Looking ahead, the company framed Agentic Process Automation as part of a broader roadmap supporting the transition of enterprise AI from experimentation to production. It emphasized that customers are increasingly focused on deploying AI as a core operating capability that delivers measurable economic value. While no near-term financial impact was quantified, management indicated that the contribution of agentic automation will likely depend on customer adoption and execution as deployments progress into scaled production environments. As with other platform enhancements, its impact is expected to emerge over time as enterprise usage broadens.

AI’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

Shares of C3.ai have declined 25.5% in the past three months compared with the industry’s fall of 4.9%. In the same time frame, other industry players like TaskUs, Inc. TASK and ServiceNow, Inc. NOW have declined 16.8% and 21.7%, respectively, while Leidos Holdings, Inc. LDOS has gained 4.5%.

AI Three-Month Price Performance

From a valuation standpoint, AI trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 6.15, significantly below the industry’s average of 15.95. Then again, other industry players, such as TaskUs, ServiceNow and Leidos Holdings, have P/S ratios of 0.82, 9.41 and 1.4, respectively.

AI’s P/S Ratio (Forward 12-Month) vs. Industry

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for C3.ai’s fiscal 2026 loss per share has widened in the past 60 days.

EPS Trend of AI Stock

The company is likely to report dismal earnings, with projections indicating a plunge of 192.7% year over year in fiscal 2026. Conversely, industry players like TaskUs, ServiceNow and Leidos Holdings are likely to witness growth of 2.4%, 16.6% and 4.6%, respectively, year over year in 2026 earnings.

AI stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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