Rene van Osnabrugge reflects on how Jack Henderson’s 2007 thriller Maximum Impact foreshadowed the arrival of agentic AI, discussing how real-world advances such as ChatGPT, GitHub Spark, and Microsoft Copilot Studio now fulfill that vision.

How the 2007 Thriller Maximum Impact Predicted Agentic AI

By Rene van Osnabrugge

Back in 2007, I read Maximum Impact by Jack Henderson. While the plot has faded from memory, its opening scene has lingered ever since. The main character, John, interacts with his computer conversationally—asking questions in natural language, receiving intelligent, contextual answers on the fly. The machine anticipates his needs, operates without rigid interfaces, and simply gets things done. At the time, this seemed almost like science fiction.

Years later, the arrival of AI technologies such as ChatGPT made those imagined interactions real. Today, speaking to your computer—whether in English, Dutch, or another language—and receiving smart, relevant replies is entirely possible. Modern tools like ChatGPT, GitHub Spark, and Microsoft Copilot Studio now enable conversations and workflow delegation that closely mirror that fictional computer’s capabilities.

The Shift to Agentic AI

We are witnessing the rise of agentic AI and multi-agent systems. Unlike earlier AI, these systems do not just follow prompts; they accept delegated tasks, collaborate, and adapt. The vision of technology seamlessly fading into the background—acting on intent, not strict technical instructions—is turning into daily engineering reality.

Protocols like MCP (Multi-agent Coordination Protocol) are now part of product strategies, enabling more dynamic orchestration between AI systems and services. With these advancements, the middleware glue that once required time-consuming, brittle integrations is getting replaced by dynamic, language-driven negotiation and capability discovery. Every SaaS, tool, or platform potentially becomes a logical building block, usable via simple language or reasoning engines.

The Impact on IT and Software Development

Agentic AI represents a paradigm shift reminiscent of the “6Ds of exponential organizations”: digitization, deception, disruption, demonetization, dematerialization, and democratization. Anyone capable of describing a problem with clear language can increasingly design workflows, products, or integrations—shrinking the gap between idea and solution. Platforms like GitHub Spark and Microsoft Copilot Studio are early signals of this transformation, offering workflow automation and orchestration through conversational AI.

Of course, essential concerns about security, authorization, and system boundaries remain. But as these technologies mature, they promise to reduce manual integration work and democratize solution-building for a broader range of users.

Conclusion

Reflecting on that one fictional scene from Maximum Impact, it is remarkable how far technology has come. What was once a distant, speculative vision is now a practical, fast-evolving reality, set to transform the way we interact with and build software systems.

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