State of AI Trust in 2026: Shifting to the Agentic Era

McKinsey (Mar 25, 2026) "State of AI trust in 2026: Shifting to the agentic era" reports on McKinsey's 2026 AI Trust Maturity Survey. The average Responsible AI maturity score rose to 2.3 in 2026 from 2.0 in 2025, yet only about one-third of organisations report maturity of three or higher in strategy, governance, and agentic AI governance. The piece notes a shift from compliance-led motivation to value- and performance-driven AI trust as AI systems become more autonomous — making recommendations, triggering actions, interacting with other systems — and the cost of governance gaps grows materially. Useful for SEA mid-market boards now overseeing first agentic-AI deployments without comparable governance maturity.