The Emerging Impact of AI Agents on Consumer Behavior and Brand Engagement

The Emerging Impact of AI Agents on Consumer Behavior and Brand Engagement

In our launch post, Embracing ‘What If?’: How Leaders Navigate AI, we asked Leaders to explore future opportunities. Today, we ask, ‘What If the promise of AI agents in 2025 becomes reality?’ According to Grand View Research, “The global AI agents market size was valued at USD 3.86 billion in 2023 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 45.1% from 2024 to 2030.”

Think of an AI agent as a digital assistant. It can understand its surroundings, make informed choices, and carry out tasks, with some degree of or potentially full autonomy. What if these intelligent assistants become the ultimate gatekeepers to consumer interactions—reshaping how brands approach marketing, customer service, sales, and customer experience?

If AI LLMs laid the groundwork, AI agents could be the specialists that filter out ads, handle inquiries autonomously, or make buying decisions on behalf of consumers.

Let’s dive deeper into how we see AI agents potentially disrupting major facets of consumer engagement and advertising—and how you can prepare.

1. AI Agents and Internet Search

• AI Disruption: AI agents autonomously collect and provide consumers with curated information, bypassing traditional search engines. Consumers could receive instant, curated answers. And, as Jeremiah Owyang aptly noted, the future will likely see premium AI agents that offer ad-blocking as a feature. These “velvet-rope” AI services will restrict access to the most desirable consumers advertisers want to reach.

• Consumer Change: What if reduced exposure to paid search ads or the need to browse through organic search results leads to a significant decline in both organic and paid traffic, undermining the effectiveness of traditional search-based advertising?

• AI Solution: Strategize for the potential that securing visibility in agent-compatible data feeds or partnering with AI platforms becomes the new gold standard for driving consumer engagement and visibility.

2. AI Agents and Online Shopping

• AI Disruption: AI agents could soon handle every step of the shopping journey, from product research to purchase, autonomously bypassing traditional sales interactions and ad-driven touchpoints. Amazon has dreams about it. For everyone else, this automation reduces the need for consumers to actively engage with a brand’s website or app interface.

• Consumer Change: What if consumers no longer make shopping decisions themselves but instead rely on AI to select and purchase products? The role of user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) would shift—websites and apps may need to optimize not only for human users but also for AI agents, ensuring seamless data access and integration.

• AI Solution: Brands must establish trust with AI agents and adapt their digital experiences. Additionally, rethinking UI/UX design to facilitate efficient interaction with AI agents—like structured data presentation and streamlined product catalogs—could become a competitive advantage.

3. AI Agents and Email & Text Management

• AI Disruption: AI agents are increasingly automating the management of emails and text messages, filtering out promotional content and even preemptively responding to messages. 

• Consumer Change: What if this trend accelerates, rendering ineffective your carefully curated email and text, as communications may never reach the consumer? Brands could find themselves struggling to maintain direct consumer connections as AI agents act as gatekeepers, prioritizing only the most relevant and valuable content.

• AI Solution: Marketers and CX teams should pivot to create content so valuable and informative that even AI agents deem it necessary to retain. In addition, diversifying communication channels and exploring new ways to engage consumers—such as leveraging AI agents themselves to deliver personalized, value-driven content—will become essential for staying relevant.

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