Agentic AI differs from traditional automation because it is triggered by a business intent and can reason across systems, while traditional automation follows predefined rules on a schedule or event. A traditional integration moves data from the MES to the ERP on a fixed rule. An agent takes an intent such as “resolve this maintenance exception” and decides the sequence across the CMMS, ERP, and procurement, escalating to a human when needed. Gartner projects 50% of cross-functional supply-chain solutions will use intelligent agents by 2030, but agents require governance and a resolved data foundation that rule-based automation does not.