AI will touch every stage of marketing mix modeling (MMM), from cleaning data and building models to translating complex findings into plain English. But speed and automation alone won't make measurement more valuable. The bigger opportunity is using AI to help marketers get from measurement to decisions, and ultimately action, while keeping humans in the loop. ROI is one of the biggest reasons marketers turn to MMM. Focusing too narrowly on it obscures the rest of the value measurement provides.

A ski trip planning session turned into a case study in how fast AI-driven discovery has taken hold, our chief content officer Vladimir Hanzlik told the audience at EMARKETER’s Future of Digital summit. Sitting around the table with friends and family, phones out on Gemini, his group booked resorts, hotels, and ski schools in a matter of hours. "What really struck me is that if you didn't turn up in those LLM recommendations, if you didn't show up in Claude or Gemini, there'll be literally zero chance that we will pick you," Hanzlik said, opening a conversation with VML's chief discoverability officer Heather Physioc on whether brands understand just how close that future already is.

The promise of agentic commerce is that AI will collapse the path to purchase, handling everything from product research to checkout on consumers’ behalf. Shoppers aren't ready to give up control, and AI may actually be adding complexity to their journeys, according to EMARKETER principal analyst Sky Canaves, speaking at the EMARKETER Future of Digital summit this week.

Purchase limits and merchant rules could ease fears about handing shopping decisions to AI agents.

New tools reflect rising holiday demand for AI-assisted research, while purchases still flow to retailer sites.

Agentic commerce has moved from buzzword to balance sheet, and the numbers prove it. AI-driven commerce is projected to grow from under $50 billion this year to nearly $300 billion by 2030, rising from roughly 3% to 15% of total US e-commerce sales.

AI is gaining influence over what consumers discover and consider long before it commands a meaningful share of the digital economy. But existing advantages in reaching consumers, earning trust, and driving transactions still matter.

Helping agents find more granular information could help get more consumers on board.

We look at what payment providers need to do to win agentic commerce share.

US ecommerce is poised to enter a phase of mature and stable growth, but AI remains a wild card that could significantly alter the trajectory of retail’s online shift.

The latest data reveals where digital markets are headed as genAI adoption scales toward 3 billion users worldwide and new leaders emerge in advertising, retail media, and ecommerce.

Convincing consumers to download the plugin will be an uphill battle for a traditionally backend brand.

PayPal’s fusion with Stripe could reorder the landscape of crypto, BNPL, agentic commerce and digital wallets.

Last November, we identified 11 trends we expected to shape the business landscape in 2026. Our Trends 2026 update reveals where expectations are holding, where surprises have emerged, and what businesses should watch through year-end.

AI is reshaping search and shopping: Traffic is shifting to chatbots and AI tools, but monetization is still limited for most players.

AI is transforming Latin America's digital economy, changing how consumers discover products, make purchases, and engage with businesses. Companies that adapt their commerce and customer experience strategies will be better positioned to compete.

India is emerging as a leading market for AI-powered commerce, supported by high genAI adoption, growing acceptance of agentic shopping, and consumers’ willingness to share data in exchange for better AI experiences.

Block can use the program to attract more sellers while rewarding Cash App users.

Cloudflare turns AI agents into paying customers: Wallet lets brands monetize agent queries instead of filtering them as bot traffic.

Despite macroeconomic uncertainty, consumers demonstrated resilience.