Generative AI represents a "tidal wave" of innovation that's transforming the digital economy at unprecedented speed and scale.

"It's not just how broad the disruption is. The pace of that transformation really has accelerated with AI scaling more quickly than any other technology that came before it," said our analyst Jasmine Enberg during yesterday's EMARKETER's Future of Digital Summit keynote panel discussion. She said this rapid transformation is forcing brands, agencies, retailers, and platforms to become "more nimble, more agile than ever" to remain relevant.

Unlike previous digital transformations that affected specific sectors over extended periods, AI is simultaneously disrupting search, social media, retail, and advertising ecosystems.

AI's growth reshapes the consumer journey

ChatGPT reached 100 million users in just two months after launch, dramatically outpacing TikTok's previous record of nine months to reach the same milestone. This rapid consumer adoption is driving equally accelerated ad spending.

"When we see consumers adopt a new behavior at scale, ad dollars are typically a fast follow," said our analyst Sarah Marzano.

The swift spread and investment in AI is fundamentally altering how consumers discover and evaluate products, our analysts say. Research from Accenture found that 18% of routine Gen AI users now consider these tools their preferred source for product recommendations—nearly double the percentage who prefer brand or retail websites directly.

"There's a clear implication here, both for retailers and retail media networks to have to contend with losing the balance of direct influence they have over consumers as that path to purchase fragments even further," said Marzano.

However, analysts say this disruption also presents opportunities.

"Accenture measured the behavior of referral traffic to retailers' websites from generative AI sources," said Marzano. "And what they found was that by and large, this traffic is highly engaged, looking at about 12% more pages on average, with an 8% longer dwell time and a really significantly lower bounce rate of 23% below those retailers averages."

Immediate changes vs. resiliency

Analysts identified search as the area experiencing the most immediate transformation, with AI search behavior rapidly evolving.

"I noticed this in my own behavior," said Enberg. "I'm typing out full questions into a Google search bar like I would on Chat GPT, and I never used to do that before. What that means is that advertisers are also going to have to start thinking differently about how consumers express intent, moving from keyword-based intent to more contextual cues."

Analysts say connected TV and social media might be more resilient to immediate AI disruption, with social media platforms potentially benefitting from AI's rise.

"My hot take is that social media will actually be more resilient to the rise of AI assistants than traditional search and even retail media search and could actually benefit from it," said Enberg. "The reasons that people are searching using genAI run parallel to the reasons that they use social platforms to search. They want more engaging, more interactive, more personalized results and recommendations."

Opportunities for the future

For agencies facing potential disintermediation, analysts say a significant knowledge gap in AI presents an opportunity. Almost half (49%) of business professionals worldwide cited a lack of AI expertise or talent as a barrier to AI adoption, according to a February survey from Hubstaff.

"When we look to the future in 10 years... they're going to teach that the middle of this decade was another time when agencies were under threat, and by being adaptable and nimble and ready to embrace change they not only survived but thrived," said our analyst Paul Verna.

When it comes to elevating AI recommendations in consumers' eyes, marketers have an opportunity in nourishing influencer and trustworthy content. Social proof will become increasingly valuable as consumers seek to validate recommendations.

"It's not just about optimizing for AI discoverability, it is also really prioritizing and leaning into user-generated content, creator testimonials, and even expert tutorials," said Enberg.

Watch the full session.