# Position: The Real Barrier to LLM Agent Usability is Agentic ROI

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.17767 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.17767/

## Key facts

- Cited by 12 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in General LLM agent frameworks and benchmarks, one of 16 directions in LLM agents and tool use.
- Builds on 103 of its 152 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 23 May 2025.

## Placed in

- LLM agents and tool use / [General LLM agent frameworks and benchmarks](https://mlsanity.com/agents/general-llm-agent-frameworks-and-benchmarks/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 103)

- [Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Knowledge-Intensive NLP Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.11401/) (2020)
- [Qwen3 Technical Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.09388/) (2025)
- [ReAct: Synergizing Reasoning and Acting in Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.03629/) (2022)
- [Efficient Memory Management for Large Language Model Serving with PagedAttention](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.06180/) (2023)
- [Reflexion: Language Agents with Verbal Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.11366/) (2023)
- [FlashAttention: Fast and Memory-Efficient Exact Attention with IO-Awareness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.14135/) (2022)
- [Generative Agents: Interactive Simulacra of Human Behavior](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.03442/) (2023)
- [Training Compute-Optimal Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.15556/) (2022)
- [A Survey on Large Language Model based Autonomous Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.11432/) (2023)
- [Voyager: An Open-Ended Embodied Agent with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.16291/) (2023)
- [WebArena: A Realistic Web Environment for Building Autonomous Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.13854/) (2023)
- [AutoGen: Enabling Next-Gen LLM Applications via Multi-Agent Conversation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.08155/) (2023)
- [MetaGPT: Meta Programming for A Multi-Agent Collaborative Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.00352/) (2023)
- [SWE-agent: Agent-Computer Interfaces Enable Automated Software Engineering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.15793/) (2024)
- [Concrete Problems in AI Safety](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1606.06565/) (2016)
- [Search-R1: Training LLMs to Reason and Leverage Search Engines with Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.09516/) (2025)
- [The Rise and Potential of Large Language Model Based Agents: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.07864/) (2023)
- [s1: Simple test-time scaling](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.19393/) (2025)
- [AgentBench: Evaluating LLMs as Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.03688/) (2023)
- [Mind2Web: Towards a Generalist Agent for the Web](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.06070/) (2023)
- [ALFWorld: Aligning Text and Embodied Environments for Interactive Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2010.03768/) (2020)
- [OSWorld: Benchmarking Multimodal Agents for Open-Ended Tasks in Real Computer Environments](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.07972/) (2024)
- [HuggingGPT: Solving AI Tasks with ChatGPT and its Friends in Hugging Face](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.17580/) (2023)
- [Fine-tuning Aligned Language Models Compromises Safety, Even When Users Do Not Intend To!](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.03693/) (2023)
- [GAIA: a benchmark for General AI Assistants](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.12983/) (2023)
- [Measuring and Narrowing the Compositionality Gap in Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.03350/) (2022)
- [Language Models as Zero-Shot Planners: Extracting Actionable Knowledge for Embodied Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.07207/) (2022)
- [ChatDev: Communicative Agents for Software Development](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.07924/) (2023)
- [ExpeL: LLM Agents Are Experiential Learners](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.10144/) (2023)
- [Large Language Model based Multi-Agents: A Survey of Progress and Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.01680/) (2024)

## Built on by (most cited first, 12 of 12)

- [A Survey of Context Engineering for Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.13334/) (2025)
- [Externalization in LLM Agents: A Unified Review of Memory, Skills, Protocols and Harness Engineering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.08224/) (2026)
- [TinyScientist: An Interactive, Extensible, and Controllable Framework for Building Research Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.06579/) (2025)
- [AgentCompass: Towards Reliable Evaluation of Agentic Workflows in Production](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.14647/) (2025)
- [PARSE: LLM Driven Schema Optimization for Reliable Entity Extraction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.08623/) (2025)
- [SMMBench: A Benchmark for Source-Distributed Multimodal Agent Memory](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.15710/) (2026)
- [SkillMAS: Skill Co-Evolution with LLM-based Multi-Agent System](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.09341/) (2026)
- [AURA: An Agent Autonomy Risk Assessment Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.15739/) (2025)
- [ParaCook: On Time-Efficient Planning for Multi-Agent Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.11608/) (2025)
- [What Do LLM Agents Know About Their World? Task2Quiz: A Paradigm for Studying Environment Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.09503/) (2026)
- [Fast, Slow, and Tool-augmented Thinking for LLMs: A Review](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.12265/) (2025)
- [OR-Space: A Full-Lifecycle Workspace Benchmark for Industrial Optimization Agents](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.28158/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Large Language Model (LLM) agents represent a promising shift in human-AI interaction, moving beyond passive prompt-response systems to autonomous agents capable of reasoning, planning, and goal-directed action. While LLM agents are technically capable of performing a broad range of tasks, not all of these capabilities translate into meaningful usability. This position paper argues that the central question for LLM agent usability is no longer whether a task can be automated, but whether it delivers sufficient Agentic Return on Investment (Agentic ROI). Agentic ROI reframes evaluation from raw performance to a holistic, utility-driven perspective, guiding when, where, and for whom LLM agents should be deployed. Despite widespread application in high-ROI tasks like coding and scientific research, we identify a critical usability gap in mass-market, everyday applications. To address this, we propose a zigzag developmental trajectory: first scaling up to improve information gain and time savings, then scaling down to reduce cost. We present a strategic roadmap across these phases to make LLM agents truly usable, accessible, and scalable in real-world applications.