Agents Are the New Influencers in Commerce

Ambeshwar Nath:

One of the key shifts in digital commerce for 2026 will not be around better ads or faster checkouts. It will be around who is taking the decision. Agents and not humans will decide, transact and shop on our behalf. This is called agentic commerce, where the commerce experience becomes autonomous, intelligent and highly personalized.

We'll reach a stage where agents will do the research, will define the recommendations, will negotiate the best price, will execute the transaction end to end, and then take feedback and improve with every transaction moving forward. Agentic commerce is not about assisting the consumer. It's about taking control and driving the end-to-end process, making it a truly frictionless experience. Let's take an example of a scenario where you are going on a travel. The AI agent is made aware. It defines your wardrobe, looks at the wardrobe, looks at your weather patterns, duration of your stay, identifies the best price and the best merchandise for you and recommends and places the entire order for you to confirm and therefore making the entire holiday experience truly meaningful and delightful. This shift is powered by three key drivers. First, AI as shopping assistance, where AI goes beyond just recommendations to providing end-to-end experiences. Second, connected ecosystem, where the commerce experience spans across social platforms, data, voice, and chat. Thirdly, data interoperability, where different agents, whether it's the payment agent or it's the shopping cart agent or the fulfillment agent, all coming together to create a holistic seamless experience. What are the strategic implications for brands? Loyalty will not be brand versus brand.

Loyalty will be brand versus AI's algorithms. It will no longer be ad versus ad. It will be algorithm versus algorithm. Businesses will no longer be catering to just human emotions. They will also cater to the decision criteria and the logic of AI that is investigating and deciding and taking decisions on behalf of the consumer. And therefore, Brands that understand this paradigm and are able to adapt to the wave of agent commerce will be the ones that will thrive and become leaders in digital commerce for 2026.