How many times have you logged into a system to complete a task that should have taken minutes but ended up taking hours? Whether renewing a credential, accessing benefits or updating a record, these experiences often feel tedious and time-consuming. As you search for the right page, click through drop-down menus, input data and submit forms, you are essentially doing the system’s work for it.

Technology has digitized countless services, but it hasn’t yet humanized them. The next leap in human-computer interaction isn’t about building better buttons; it’s about building agents that act on our behalf. Agentic experience (AX) represents that next evolution: a model where humans direct intelligent systems to deliver desired outcomes.

In the context of federal government, where complex workflows and interactions with multiple systems are common, the shift to AX will be transformational. It will free up time for employees and contractors to focus on mission-critical work while reducing errors, accelerating service delivery, and improving public trust.

The next frontier: Federal leadership in AX

User experience (UX) is not going away; it is rapidly evolving to include agentic experience.  For decades, UX has focused on how people interact with digital systems to accomplish tasks: A human navigates interfaces, completes steps and makes decisions. The system is a passive tool, and the user does all the work.

AX flips that model: Intelligent agents act on the user’s behalf, executing tasks based on intent. Humans guide outcomes rather than performing every step.

Instead of logging into multiple systems to file a report, an AI agent could authenticate and retrieve necessary data, complete the form, and deliver the final output for review. The person remains in control but no longer must perform every procedural step.

The federal government is uniquely positioned to lead in this space. Agencies already manage vast, mission-critical systems that serve millions of citizens. By applying human-centered design principles to agentic technologies, they can create experiences that are equitable and effective.

Federal agencies have already begun exploring frameworks for responsible AI with an emphasis on transparency, reliability and ethical use. These same principles must anchor the development of agentic systems.

A helpful parallel comes from the self-driving car industry. Companies like Waymo have learned that passengers trust autonomy more when they can see what the car “sees.” Similarly, agentic systems should make their reasoning visible, showing users what the agent perceives, decides and does on their behalf.

What AX could look like in federal missions

The power of AX lies in its ability to streamline complex, multi-system workflows that currently slow down mission delivery. Here are a few hypothetical examples of how AX could enhance efficiency at federal agencies.

At the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, a program analyst needs to compile a quarterly compliance report that pulls data from several systems. Today, that process might require manual queries, spreadsheet consolidation and error checks. With AX, an intelligent agent could aggregate and validate data automatically, flag anomalies, and generate a polished report, saving days of manual labor and ensuring consistency across datasets.

For veterans seeking benefits, requests at the Department of Veterans Affairs typically involve multiple forms and offices. AX could change that. A veteran could state an intent, such as “I’d like to update my address and apply for housing assistance,” and the system would handle the rest: confirming eligibility, updating records across systems, and alerting the user once completed. The result is faster service and a more human experience that builds trust between veterans and their government.

Clinicians and administrators spend significant time navigating electronic health record systems to manage patient data. An AX-enabled system within the Military Health System could interpret a clinician’s request to “schedule post-operative appointment in two weeks, notify the patient, and update the care plan,” execute those steps across systems, and confirm completion. This allows healthcare professionals to spend more time on patient care rather than administrative tasks.

Principles for designing trustworthy AX

To foster confidence and accountability in agentic systems, here are six guiding principles that echo human-centered design’s emphasis on empathy, understanding and outcomes. They extend familiar human experience (HX) practices into a new era where AI partners act alongside humans.

• Transparent: Users should understand what the agent did, along with the why and how. Decision visibility builds confidence.
• Controllable: Humans remain in charge. Users can intervene, adjust autonomy levels, or revoke actions.
• Contextual: Agents must understand user goals and operational context to act appropriately.
• Reliable: Predictability, safety and consistency are essential to maintaining trust.
• Adaptive: Agents should learn and improve within clear, testable boundaries.
• Ethical: Every action and decision must align with human, organizational and societal values.

Preparing for the next design evolution

For federal agencies, adopting AX requires designing ecosystems where AI agents can navigate systems safely and effectively. That means modernizing data infrastructure, enforcing interoperability standards, and implementing strong governance to monitor and audit agentic behavior.

As agentic systems emerge, the roles of designers, product strategists and technologists will evolve. Designers will become orchestrators of ecosystems, ensuring that human oversight and system transparency remain central. To measure AX success, we must prioritize trust, reliability and ethics — for example, assessing how ethically an agent interacts with humans and how accurately it presents its work to users.

Designers will also need new tools, such as a formalized AX blueprint, to map user intent, system interactions and agent pathways. This blueprint will help agencies visualize how human intent translates into autonomous action, ensuring accountability and ethical safeguards.

Building the bridge between AI and human intent

The transition to AX isn’t about replacing workers with automation; it’s about amplifying human capability. Intelligent AI agents can handle repetitive, transactional work, freeing the federal workforce to focus on strategic, mission-driven decisions.

To achieve this responsibly, agencies should start small: piloting agentic workflows in low-risk environments, establishing transparency protocols, and engaging users early through testing and iteration. By validating early and often — an approach rooted in human-centered design — agencies can build systems that adapt, learn and earn trust over time.

AX represents a paradigm shift in how government interacts with technology. It reframes the relationship from “user and tool” to “human and collaborator.” When designed with transparency, control and ethics at the core, AX can transform how federal agencies deliver on their missions — reducing friction, increasing efficiency and restoring trust in public systems.

As we move into the age of agentic systems, one truth remains constant: Great solutions start with great experiences for the people who use them. Agentic AI will inevitably change how we work; government and industry must design these systems to serve people, purpose and the public good.

Chris Capuano is the human experience (HX) practice lead at Tria Federal. 

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