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BY Nir Wegrzyn

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A shopper asks an AI assistant for sneakers for a 23-year-old. Another Googles a boutique hotel in Rome. Before either sees a picture of a shoe or a room, artificial intelligence has helped decide which brands deserve consideration. Mental availability is no longer formed directly by comms and shopper experience; a new intermediary has stepped in.

AI is increasingly a gatekeeper between businesses and their customers. Shoppers don’t have to open a chatbot for AI to influence their choices. It is already embedded in familiar services. Think of Google, where AI-generated answers appear before people visit a brand’s website.

Morgan Stanley estimates that agent-influenced shopping could account for $190 billion to $385 billion in U.S. e-commerce spending by 2030, or 10% to 20% of the market.…