AI isn’t just assisting shoppers, it’s replacing them - are businesses ready?

Technology is changing fast, and so too are customer expectations. A new wave of time-strapped, digitally savvy consumers is driving demand for smarter, more personalised experiences. Frustrated by the inefficiencies of traditional ecommerce, they are increasingly bypassing conventional brand touchpoints in favour of platforms like social media and AI to get what they need, fast.

This shift marks the rise of the agentic internet, where AI doesn’t just talk to customers, but actively makes decisions and purchases on their behalf. According to Cognizant’s New Minds, New Markets research, AI agents could influence over half of all purchases by 2030, driving £690 billion in UK consumer spending alone. For businesses, this is a wake-up call: if the AI can’t find you, your customers won’t either.

From assistance to autonomy: what happens when agents start talking to each other

The emergence of an agentic internet is inevitable – and not far-off being a mainstream concept. While today’s AI agents may seem somewhat limited, global competition is accelerating their development. Systems are rapidly learning to navigate websites, interpret content and perform tasks autonomously. But the real revolution begins when AI agents no longer need humans to guide them at all, and they start interacting directly with each other, exchanging data and negotiating behind the scenes.

Tech giants are already laying the groundwork for this revolution. Google has integrated AI-generated summaries pushing traditional links further down the page, while projects like OpenAI’s Operator and Google’s Project Mariner experiment with agents that can browse and complete transactions on users’ behalf. These early prototypes signal a fundamental shift from a web of static interfaces to a dynamic, intelligent ecosystem shaped by machine-to-machine interactions.

AI-to-AI communication is at the very core of the agentic internet, not just providing customers with more personalised decisions, but enabling businesses to delegate discovery and fulfilment to agents. This will streamline the consumer journey, reducing friction and increasing relevance. The agentic internet will rewrite the rules of digital engagement, transforming ecommerce from a solely user-driven journey into an AI-driven network delivering personalised, real-time experiences.

The effortless future: how AI reshapes consumer convenience

The shift towards an agentic internet isn’t just fuelled by the rapid evolution of AI, but by a fundamental change in consumer expectations. With 75% of individuals frustrated with today’s clunky buying experience, a new generation of time-conscious, tech-savvy consumers is embedding AI into daily life to ease decision-making. And within five years, their economic impact is set to surge by hundreds of billions. But, with many hesitant to hand over high-stakes purchasing decisions without direct approval, control still matters. AI agents must therefore build trust by working with consumers, not just for them.

Consumers don’t want to be completely sidelined, especially where money or personal data is at stake. To truly deliver convenience without compromise, AI agents, and the businesses behind them, must earn consumer trust. This means being transparent about how AI decisions are made, ensuring logic is explainable and tailoring experiences to individual preferences. Trust isn’t built through automation alone but is shaped by how responsibly companies design and govern their AI systems. When businesses prioritise reliability, fairness and accountability, AI can become a trusted partner in everyday decision-making, not just a silent operator.

The business wake-up call

The arrival of the agentic internet demands a fundamental rethink of how businesses show up in the digital world. As agents begin to manage more of the consumer journey, brands can no longer assume a consumer will visit their site, browse their product range and convert on command. Increasingly, the consumer’s first interaction is not with a person, but with AI, and that AI is making choices on their behalf.

To stay competitive, businesses must move beyond the idea of visibility as simply being SEO and ranking well in search. Discoverability in the agentic internet requires content and services easily actioned by machines. This means clear, structured information, consistent product data, and the ability for agents to access and interact with that data seamlessly across platforms.

At the same time, brands must rethink the architecture of their experiences. Consumers are interacting with AI through a wide range of devices, from smartphones and computers to home assistants, and they expect those interactions to feel natural and fast. This requires AI capabilities to be embedded across channels, integrated to feel like a natural extension of the interfaces customers already use. The most effective businesses will meet customers where they are, not ask them to jump through hoops.

Designing for AI, and the human behind it

Critically, AI convenience cannot come at the cost of consumer trust. Businesses must pair automation with human resources, ensuring there is always a clear path to speak to a person when nuance and empathy are required. A hybrid model, where AI complements human expertise is the key to maintaining loyalty along the adoption curve.

This new era of ecommerce will not be defined by businesses disrupting markets, but by consumers accelerating change through their embrace of AI. Success won’t hinge on who shouts the loudest, but on who is easiest to find and trust through AI. The brands that win will be those reimagining their customer experiences not just for the agents, but for the people behind them, too.