How Agentic AI Influences Information Systems Artifact Design: A PRISMA Systematic Literature Review
Keywords:
Agentic AI, IS Artifact Design, Design Science Research, Multi-Agent SystemsAbstract
Agentic artificial intelligence (AI) refers to systems that autonomously decompose high-level
goals into sub-tasks, invoke external tools, spawn peer agents, and revise plans in response to environmental
feedback. This class of systems constitutes a qualitative departure from the AI that Information Systems
(IS) scholarship has previously theorised. This paper examines how agentic AI reshapes IS artifact design
through a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) systematic
literature review of 64 verified peer-reviewed studies retrieved from six major databases, supplemented by
citation tracking to approximate a full 138-study corpus spanning 2018 to 2024. Thematic synthesis reveals
six convergent paradigm shifts: adaptive architectures that self-modify at runtime; goal-directed agency
that supplants rule-based automation; multi-agent coordination producing emergent system behaviours;
fluid human-AI teaming that dissolves classical human-system boundaries; explainability and trust elevated
to first-class design properties; and embedded ethical alignment as a structural design layer. We argue that
prevailing Design Science Research (DSR) kernel theory requires three substantive extensions, Dynamic
Design Completeness, Distributed Artifact Agency, and Continuous Evaluation, and we propose a revised
IS artifact ontology distinguishing defined-boundary from open-boundary artifacts together with a five
question forward research agenda.
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References
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