The world’s largest digital platforms are increasingly treating AI as the foundation of a new commercial paradigm, according to recent earning calls from Google, Amazon, and more.

This future of ecommerce is one where agentic AI systems change how people shop, how brands sell, and how platforms make money.

• Some 90% of worldwide consumer goods decision makers either currently use agentic AI, or plan to use it in the next two years, according to June 2025 data from Salesforce.

"This is an expansionary moment," said Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai during their earnings call, where agentic AI will drive the convergence of consumer intent, discovery, and transaction into one seamless flow.

From queries to conversations

Previously, digital commerce revolved around search boxes and algorithms. The new paradigm is conversational and increasingly agentic.

“You can simply describe what you’re looking for, like the way you would talk to a friend, and it will show you visual shopping results," said Philipp Schindler, SVP and chief business officer at Google, during the earnings call. He said these models “understand and predict intent like never before, [unlocking] entirely new commercial pathways.”

The shift towards conversational commerce aided by agentic AI is happening both as consumers grow more comfortable using the technology and as more companies roll out their own agentic tools.

• Almost 6 in 10 (57%) US executives plan to roll out customer-facing agentic AI this year, according to a February 2025 survey from NLX and QuestionPro.

"I think that the number of companies who are working on building agents is very significant," said Amazon CEO Andy Jassy during their earnings call. "I do believe that a lot of the value that companies will realize over time in AI will come from agents."

Retailers should start optimizing beyond keywords and focus on dialogue. As consumers shift from typing to talking, product data, brand language, and content must be structured so AI agents can understand and recommend them naturally. Think “answerable” inventory, not just searchable inventory.

The new monetization playbook

As more consumers turn to agents to search and buy for them, retailers and brands have to rethink how to approach product discovery.

Google’s approach is “additive to how people seek information,” said Schindler, pointing to billions of new queries unlocked by AI Mode and AI Overviews. He said early tests show that ad monetization in these formats is already “approximately the same rate” as traditional search, with potential for “richer placements” ahead.

Etsy’s OpenAI integration suggests agents could become a new acquisition channel altogether.

"It's incredibly exciting that this is an opportunity for many consumers to raise consideration [of] Etsy in a lot of purchase occasions where they may not have thought of Etsy," said CEO Josh Silverman during their earnings call. "Our ability to be at the front edge of this, we think, positions us really well to help shape what agentic commerce can be, what kinds of data they're ingesting, how they're presenting it to their buyers, how our brand is presented."

Retailers should prepare for ad formats and attribution models that start earlier in the funnel, when agents are still “considering” options on behalf of the shopper. The opportunity could present higher-intent traffic and more contextually relevant placements.

Data, trust, and the human brand

As agents assume more autonomy, questions of trust and transparency are becoming central to competitive differentiation. But for smaller marketplaces like Etsy, it could be the differentiator.

"For many people in ecommerce, they're selling the exact same product that's for sale in many other places, and it just becomes a game of who can sell it cheaper and ship it faster. Agentic commerce is going to unearth that for buyers," said Silverman. "Etsy has something genuinely unique and different to offer."

Meanwhile, companies are invested in embedding brand and provenance data directly into their AI workflows, to ensure that as agents transact autonomously, consumers can still see the human or corporate entity behind the recommendation.

"We're working on multiple agentic experiences across key verticals, such as travel, commerce, shopping, and so on," said Schindler. "We're paying a lot of attention to creating a seamless user experience, but also to the fact that we need to integrate different partner ecosystems in a way that it creates value for them."

Brands that emphasize authenticity, ethical sourcing, and clear attribution will have an advantage as consumers (and their agents) demand transparency. Keeping the human story visible may be what differentiates you from algorithmic sameness.

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